Towards food safety – The Peninsula

Towards food safety – The Peninsula

Access to safe and healthy food is a necessity for everyone. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 1 in 10 people fall ill each year due to consuming contaminated food. About 420,000 adults and 125,000 children (younger than five years old) die yearly due to foodborne illnesses.

Though reports on the burdens of food safety or foodborne diseases are scarce in the region, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have the third-highest estimated burden of foodborne illnesses per population, after the African and South-East Asia regions.

Simply put, food safety refers to routines in the preparation, handling and storage of food meant to prevent foodborne illness and injury. From harvest to processing plants or packaging factories for onward transportation, ensuring safe practices is crucial to food safety.

Qatar has extensively underlined its commitment to food safety and security for citizens and residents. Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and Ministry of Municipality and Environment announced the launch of the monitoring and surveillance programme to control food pollutants and pathogens during the initial stages of production and processing and throughout the food chain as part of the multisectoral health approach.

According to the Director of Food Safety and Environmental Health