Eye on Food Safety

FMJE: What are the biggest hazards facing UAE and the regional food and beverage industry? What policies and programmes are in place to handle them?

Our meticulous monitoring and inspection systems are meant to not only remove any hurdles to food safety in the market, but also to pre-empt potential risks. The main risks to food safety spring from imported food, since 85% of food products here are imported from abroad. ADFCA takes all measures to ensure that all imported food products comply with standard and technical rules.

All the latest measures like Global Gap, HACCP and Risk-based systems are in place to ensure no unsafe food products enter the Abu Dhabi markets. Our monitoring systems are based on risk analysis and preventive care and as such, we believe in preventing potential hazards rather than waiting for them to happen and then taking action. All measures, for instance, are taken to control salmonella in poultry farms and our system is geared to detect even the smallest aberrations before the products move to the public arena. Since the various rapid alert systems cover all foodstuffs, we make sure food safety threats always precede actual risks. If this approach fails at any point in time, we are well prepared to take prompt corrective action.

We work on the premise that the safety of the consumers is a red line that must not be crossed under any circumstances. Our inspection systems are set to function on a proactive basis rather than on a reactive basis. They cover not just food outlets or food establishments, but the entire gamut of the food industry's operations, including border crossings, food transportation, farming operations and imports. In addition to the inspection system, we also do all we can to assist the farming community to adopt good farming practices i.e. good operational practice. We are actively involved in implementing Global GAP, a model of the best global agriculture practices in the farms in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This is the farm to fork policy we implement in this aspect, as ADFCA is responsible for not only food safety, but also agriculture and animal wealth in the emirate.

FMJE: What food safety alert systems have been devised and implemented?

ADFCA believes that timely communication on food risk information is germane to the maintenance of food safety globally, not only amongst food safety authorities across the world, but also to the consumers of food within the jurisdiction of each authority. We try to receive and disseminate food risk information and alerts through our involvement in various food safety networks, such as International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (EU/RASFF), National Food Safety Committee. The level and pace of alerts are determined obviously by the gravity and sensitivity of the perceived risks.

Apart from the institutional networks dedicated to facilitate communication on food risks, we have also devised internal systems and processes to communicate with the general public based on "Food Incidents and Crisis management plan" developed by ADFCA last year. Food risk information is classified under two categories, notifications for rapid action and, notifications for information only because the tainted products have not reached the market. ADFCA regularly updates the general public and the consumers on all food risk information through press briefings, press releases and through our blackberry system. All the channels of risk-related communication are currently active and operational. However, with the globalisation of trade and the ever-expanding food chain, new risks to the health and safety of consumers do sometimes arise. These need to be quickly and efficientlyNike