FOOD safety and hygiene are of utmost importance to a nation’s health as food-borne illnesses can trigger several health issue and sometimes can even be fatal. Food poisoning occurs when food becomes contaminate by bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, making those who consume the contaminated food very ill. As food-borne illnesses can be a burden on the health care system of a country, it is very important to know how to protect people from food poisoning.
Qatar has been constantly working to make the country’s food system safe and secure by adopting technological innovations in its quest to make the system a fool proof one. Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced the pilot launch of an electronic food safety system in cooperation with the Food Safety and Environmental Health Depratments, the Information System of MoPH. The General Authority of Customs and private companies that implemented the system.
The system includes three interconnected electronic food control systems for local, imported and exported food, risk-based laboratory analysis to ensure the highest possible level of food controls.
The system will enable electronic inspection of imported and exported food at Hamad International Airport, Hamad Sea Port, Ruwais Port and the Abu Samra land port. It will also facilitate document checking, passing through virtual inspection and determining the size of samples, and issuance of results and automatic release of the complying items as the system is linked to the Customs Authority’s Al Ndeeb electronic system.
Food safety control plays a critical role in quality assurance and observance of standards for import, production, processing, preparation and disposal of food products. Food safety control is particularly necessary given the fact that approximately 90 percent of food in Qatar is imported. The rapid population growth the country is witnessing continues to put increasing pressure on food inspection services and port authorities.
According to the MoPH, Qatar witnesses an annual spread of food-borne diseases accompanied by variable number of pathogens, including E.coli, salmonella and typhoid caused by food poisoning.
World over, the burden of food-borne diseases to public health and welfare and economy has often been underestimated due to under-reporting and difficulty to establish causal relationships between food contamination and resulting illness or death. A 2018 World Bank report indicated the burden of food-borne diseases caused a total productivity loss in low and middle income countries estimated to cost $95.2bn per year and the annual cost of treating such illnesses is estimated at $15bn.
As a technology savvy country, Qatar has been quick in adopting any new tech developments in every sector and food security and self-sufficiency have been priorities for the country. The new system will make the country’s already safe food system more reassuring for the people.
