Muscat: The last day of the 3rd Oman International Food Safety Conference 2012 saw two interactive workshops taking place at the Grand Hyatt on 8th November, 2012 highlighting two equally interesting aspects of food safety.
The first workshop was facilitated by Prof. Raymond O' Rourke, Food & Consumer Lawyer, Ireland, where he looked into the possibility of National food agencies being a means of enhancing Food Safety. He touched upon the makeup of a national food agency including a SWOT analysis of a national food control system, the necessity of setting up a risk analysis model (encompassing risk communication, risk assessment and risk management), policy issues that would have to be dealt with when setting up a national food agency, examples of different agencies (single agency approach in Ireland, Canada, Sweden and Finland, a multiple agency approach in UK and an Integrated approach in USA, a risk assessment agency approach in France and the European Union and a combination of single/multiple agency approach in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi), the feasibility and success of food agencies, other issues faced by food agencies like funding, costs, international dimensions and food standards and lastly the best likely model of a food agency approach that could be adopted by Oman.
In talking about the feasibility of setting up a national food safety agency in Oman Prof Rourke said "First of all I think that Oman is in a wonderful position at the moment, in terms of trying to establish a food agency because there's various models one could look at both in the European context, Canada and even in GCC countries with Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi etc. My first point would be would be that a committee or a task force would have to be set up to look into the best model that would suit Oman both for its domestic food industry or its potential food exports industry. I think the model that would suit Oman best-I have a particular interest and support for the Canadian model which-would be a single agency approach. They would cover all the enforcements and inspections from farm to fork, but the one area which could be problematic would be the area of customs and border posts and that would remain with the existing agencies. Another issue that you would have to think of would be of whether the agency has a role in terms of nutrition. And lastly I think other good models that could be done in a single agency format are the ones of Finland where again the customs and border posts are done by a separate body and that down at the Municipality level and the lower level all the inspectors would be inspectors from the agency. A halfway position between that is an example of my own country of Ireland where you retain the people in their different ministries but they have a contractual employment contract with that agency to do inspections at various times on behalf of the agency"
The second workshop saw Mr. William Wood, Director, SFBB Systems Ltd and Development Consultant to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health on the CIEH Food Safety System for Food Businesses in Oman presenting a CIEH Food Safety System For Businesses in Oman as A Practical Approach to Implementing a HACCP Based System in Food Businesses. He took attendees through the concept of a traditional HACCP approach and then presented a food safety system developed by CIEH for food businesses. The CIEH FSS Pack is a user friendly toolkit, based on the general principles of HACCP based risk management and in keeping with Oman food control regulations. Although currently available in English, it will soon be available in Arabic. The pack is applicable to restaurants, cafes, take away outlets, hotel kitchens, kiosks, mobile vendors, small production kitchens, outside catering etc. When using the FSS pack food businesses must decide and write the food safety rules, adopt food safety rules and controls, train food safety rules, use the daily records every day and review and keep up to date.
In commenting on the effectiveness of the FSS pack used by food businesses in Oman Mr. Wood said "Many food businesses in Oman don't already have a food safety management system and most businesses struggle to find an approach they find practical and easy to implement so the idea of the food safety system from the CIEH is to give them an alternative approach to traditional HACCP. The benefit of this approach is that a great deal of the hazard analysis is already being done and as long as the business follows it step by step with the help of their accredited coach they will actually get to a point where, for the first time probably for many businesses, they've got a food safety management system that they can confidently put into the business and competently trained staff. The benefit of this is that over time it will become a recognised approach that perhaps the Municipalities themselves will confidently introduce to businesses and it becomes a system that will not only get recognised in Oman but across the region"
-Ends-
© Press Release 2012
