Microbiological safety termed imperative for ensuring food security

HARIPUR: The microbiological safety is imperative for achieving the objective of food security in the country, a seminar was told on Saturday.

“Microbiological safety is one of the key challenges the developing countries are exposed to,” Vice-Chancellor Women University, Swabi, Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi told the seminar titled “food safety concerns and role of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety & Halal Food Authority.”

The department of Food Science and Technology University of Haripur organised the event here on Saturday.

She said that a product, which was processed and marketed having no microbiological, chemical or physical hazards could only be declared as safe food for human consumption. “A food item carrying a biological, chemical or physical agent with a potential to cause adverse health effects is always hazardous for human consumption,” she said.

Sharing the microbiological, chemical, physical and allergens as hazards, she said that a state-of-the-art processing process could help ensure the food safety and security to the maximum and that industrialists and their officials engaged in food processing must take good care of protecting the food from the hazards.

She also discussed the invisible microbiological hazards.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Abdul Satar Shah, a food safety expert, in his keynote address discussed in detail the consumers’ concerns about the food safety in the KP province, especially adulteration in milk, spices, beverages, un-hygienic processing of vegetables, meat, unchecked marketing of fake brands. He said that to arrest the growing trend of food-related diseases and ensure food safety for the people was the need of the hour.

Dr Shah said that food production, supply, import, pollution caused by global environmental changes, new bacterias, toxins and their antibodies and the correct diagnosis of diseases related to food items were the challenges the KP province was facing.

Prof Dr Ayub Khan, acting VC University of Haripur, also spoke on the occasion.