Dubai, 08 June 2021:  Dubai Municipality conducted a virtual Food Safety Forum to mark the World Food Safety Day, which falls on 7th June.  The theme for the World Food Safety Day this year was ‘Safe Food Today for a Healthy Tomorrow.’
 
The forum, attended by representatives from the food industry, food safety professionals, academicians and government officials, in addition to representatives of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, discussed the latest developments in food safety.

The virtual forum highlighted the various initiatives of government agencies in the country in food safety, the requirements that must be adhered to by the food establishments to avoid violations, the updated legislations related to training in the field of food safety, in addition to the efforts of Dubai Municipality to ensure compliance with the safety requirements of exported and imported food.

On the sidelines of the virtual forum, Dubai Municipality organized a series of awareness workshops for several categories of consumers, including Municipality employees and government agencies such as the Ministry of Health, the Public Prosecution, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Department of Economic Development. The topics of the workshops focused on the importance of promoting food safety awareness and directing attention to the prevention of foodborne diseases, and advices on correct practices when handling food.

The FAO presentation in the Food Safety Forum highlighted the importance of robust national food control systems in protecting consumers’ health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade, as per Codex Alimentarius guidelines as well as the need to follow the approach developed by FAO and WHO to assess national food control systems as a first step to plan for incremental progress and target investments, as a support for continuous improvements. 

Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and food safety officials representing different emirates highlighted the important measures and initiatives to enhance food safety in food establishments. 

It is worth noting that Dubai Municipality continues to enhance the preservation of food safety, through inspections and periodic checks of food products, and strengthening the necessary preventive measures to ensure community health, using smart digital monitoring, data analysis and customized applications, provided by the digital FoodWatch platform, which provides full traceability of food and its components, in order to ensure food safety and nutrition.