Food Safety South Africa is being set up within the CGCSA's Legal and
Regulatory environment to assist the industry with safety matters of concern to
the industry, to consumers and other stakeholders, explains Broughton.
The move has been considered necessary in the light of recent global trends
which have impacted on general public health: Changes in weather patterns,
globalisation and the consequent movement of both populations and products have
given rise to problems within the food chain. This has led to such incidents as
the outbreak of avian flu and the increased use of the illegal additive Sudan
Red in food products.
At CGCSA we believed that although South Africa has always enjoyed
remarkably high safety standards, it was time to meet as an industry to agree on
common objectives to ensure that we provided adequate food safety along the
entire supply chain.
Food Safety South Africa (FSSA) will focus on a number of areas, including
risk management, scientific issues, such as a virtual laboratory, and standards:
There will be a special emphasis on risk management, since it is essential
that we have a comprehensive grasp of the risks involved at each stage of the
food supply, chain from farm to fork. Consumers too, need to be aware of risks
so that they can make informed decisions at their points of purchase.
The CGCSA website will be kept updated with information on the formation of
the FSSA. Currently, discussions are taking place with all interested parties
and a succession of meetings are being held, heading towards the formal launch
of the FSSA scheduled for 17 November at the Food Safety Conference in
Johannesburg.
Main Board co- sponsors with the CGCSA are Simon Susman of Woolworths and
Kees Kruythoff of Unilever SA Foods.
[Source: Bizcommunity.com, 25 Aug 2005 14:10]
Printer-friendly version