Experts Call For Food Safety

Nairobi, Tuesday June 6, 2023

KNA by Emma Jolly Wambui

The East African Community, the African Union, Kenya’s Ministry of Health in partnership with public and private sector partners and development agencies in the National Food Safety Committee have collaborated to organize the 5th World Food Safety Day Conference.

Working under the theme ‘Food standards save lives', the conference is aimed at recognizing the importance of food standards across the world in keeping the consumers safe.

The event is aimed at drawing attention and inspiring action to help prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks, thereby contributing to human health, food and nutrition security, economic prosperity, market access, and sustainable development.

Speaking at the conference in Nairobi Monday, the Royal Danish Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Ole Thonke said that there are many similarities between Kenya and Denmark in the Agricultural sector, thus the focus on food standards is a global phenomenon.

“Food safety and food standards is a business for everyone therefore the collaboration and partnership amongst all stakeholders in the food safety sector in Kenya is extremely important,” highlighted Mr. Thonke.  

Additionally, he stated that there is a new bill on food safety in the Kenyan parliament to be debated and it takes the philosophy that everybody has the responsibility in the food safety sector, with recommendations on how the government can work together with the same model and methods to enhance food safety insisting when it is passed it will be a step forward in Kenya.

Thonke emphasized that the Danish Embassy has worked together with the Kenya government for six years through strategic sector corporation, where they have experts from the Danish ministry of food and agriculture who work directly with the Kenyan counterparts in sharing experiences on the methods and new models to ensure that Kenya has an up to date food safety system.

Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT) CEO Rebecca Amukhoye said that this year's International food safety day is aimed at encouraging everyone to adapt and accept safety food standards across the food supply chain from the producer to the consumer.

“Food is an essential part of what it means to be human, which is why unsafe food is unacceptable,” Amukhoye emphasized.

Amukhoye added that for the last five years MESPT through the funding support of the European Union and Royal Danish Embassy have been implementing a food safety system programme.

“The programme was built on the premise that there is a skill gap among the value chain. Some of the factors that have affected the competitiveness of the agricultural value chain include lack of coordination and harmony in dissemination of skills,” she said.

Amukhoye highlighted that safety regulations have been perceived as the sole responsibility of the competent authority leading to minimal participation by the private sector.

“As a way of addressing the above challenges, the programme is aimed at building the capacity of actors along selected agricultural values chains in building the capacity of 13 county government and private sector affairs within those counties on the implementation and enforcement of food safety plant and animal health regulation,” she emphasized.

Amukhoye explained that improving food safety requires sustained investment in stronger regulations, better coordination, better laboratories, more stringent surveillance and better training education.

Courtesy ; K. N. A