|
Intra-governmental cooperation aims at food safety |
|
Monday, 05 July 2010 23:36 |
|
KUWAIT: Cooperation between government bodies to ensure food safety has created an efficient food monitoring system
, said the Director of Kuwait Municipality's Public Relations department, Rashid Al-Hashan, yesterday. Al-Hashan told KUNA that the municipality's food safety committee specializes in assessing food safety and carries out regular inspections of foodstuffs stored in factories, warehouses, restaurants and retail outlets to ensure that the foodstuffs meet the safety criteria.
The committee works closely with the Ministry of Health, which is responsible for conducting tests on foodstuffs before they reach consumers, monitoring food poisoning victims and working to prevent future incidents of that nature. Another body which it cooperates closely with is the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAFR), which is responsible for ensuring the safety of agricultural and animal products, he explained.
Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Industry ensures that the products meet international standards and specifications, while the Ministry of Trade and Industry protects consumers against fraud, he explained. All of these bodies, along with the Kuwait customs department and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, work closely, subjecting both locally produced and imported foodstuffs to scrutiny in order to prevent potentially hazardous items from reaching consumers. - Kuwait Times
|
