National Food Safety Strategy launched
STAKEHOLDERS should continue committing adequate resources and expertise to the multi-sectorial coordination and effective implementation of the national food safety strategy, a senior official has said.
Health and Child Care, permanent secretary Air Commodore Dr Jasper Chimedza said this in a speech read on his behalf director of health services in the same Ministry, Victor Nyamandi.
He was addressing stakeholders at the launch of the national food safety strategy in the capital on Tuesday. Dr Chimedza said the National Food Safety Strategy is fully aligned to the Constitution of Zimbabwe and other government policies as it puts the protection of public health and the promotion of the ease of doing business at the forefront.
“The government of Zimbabwe has a constitutional responsibility to safeguard public health through measures such as developing and implementing an official, effective, and efficient food safety strategy,” he said.
The National Food Safety Strategy was developed through wide and extensive consultations among key food control management stakeholders that included the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Agriculture, Local Government, and the food industry. It seeks to guide investment into desired food safety initiatives and to strengthen the capacity of food control stakeholders to conduct food safety risk assessments, performing risk management functions and risk communication actions.
Speaking at the same event, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative Dr Berhanu Bedane said over the years, his organisation has supported several interventions aimed at building a strong, modern and proactive national food control system.
He said in 2017, at the request of the government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Health and Child Care, FAO supported an assessment based on the then new FAO/WHO tool for assessing national food control systems.
“This assessment revealed several weaknesses in the Zimbabwe food control system, which led to the design and implementation of a Technical Corporation Programme (TCP/3602), with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. In this support, FAO provided technical support towards drafting of a national Food Safety Strategy, review of the national food safety legislation and drafting of measures towards improving these,” he said.
The programme also supported training of key frontline personnel in aspects such as: food safety risk analysis, profiling and risk-based food control; good hygiene practices in the meat and milk value chains, risk based imported food control and hazardous analysis of critical control points, said Dr Bedane.
In addition, the programme helped build the capacity of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe in food safety awareness and empowering consumers to demand safe food, he said.-chronicle
