6th Dubai International Food Safety conference calls for uniformity in international standards and procedures for testing food UAE Minister of Environment and Water, Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad said that the UAE, which relies mainly on imports to meet needs of food stuffs and products, has always shown keen interest to the issue of health and food safety and giving care in accordance with the term ‘farm to fork.’ He was delivering the inaugural address at the sixth Dubai International Food Safety Conference hosted by Dubai Municipality at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The conference, was held alongside the Gulfood Exhibition under the slogan, ‘Food Safety in Emerging Economies – What Is Achievable, Reliable and Sustainable. The event brought a window of opportunity for all interested players to develop and update procedures to ensure food safety. It attracted experts and consultants from all over the world to exchange experiences on bringing a consensus on standards and procedures relating to food safety.

The conference provided a forum for the exchange of knowledge and developing new skills for all who work in this important area including the private sector, regulatory bodies and academic institutions. Fahad expressed fears and growing concerns related to food safety in countries with emerging economies in particular; and developed countries in general. These problems could limit the potential of these countries to enter into the global market, which will reflect on global food security. “The production of sufficient quantities of food to meet the increasing population growth and to reduce the number of hungry people in the world is no longer the only important thing that can achieve global food security. It must further be accompanied by increased production with maximum possible safety to avoid any risk of food products damaging human health as a result of the absence or inadequacy of safety procedures,” said Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad.

He raised concern by saying that human and  economic losses resulting from food borne pathogens are problems of serious and dangerous proportion. The problems of increasing population, urbanization, scarcity of resources to deal with the loss of crops before and after harvest, and the challenges related to environment and food hygiene; translate to continued suffering of these countries with regard to food quality and safety. On the other hand, the cultural changes resulting from urbanization have contributed to intensifying these problems by changing the traditional methods of food preparation, and the increased dependency on food prepared outside the home. The final outcome is the exposure of consumers in these countries to more food risks, as well as the deterioration of the quality of these food items. World Health Organization suggests that the proportion of people who suffer from diseases transmitted through food in the industrialized countries amounts to 30 percent each year.

The Centre for Disease Control in the United States indicated in a recent report issued at the end of last year that diseases transmitted through food affect about 48 million Americans of whom 3,000 die annually. In many of the  developing countries, the high prevalence of diarrheal diseases suggests the existence of major problems in the field of food safety, says World Health Organization.