World Food Safety Day |06 June 2023
A partial view of the audience
Seychelles celebrates first Food Safety Week
By Neil Sirame
Seychelles is celebrating its first Food Safety Week with an array of activities which began yesterday with the launch of the campaign at the Seychelles Hospital.
The launch coincides with World Food Safety Day, observed annually around the world on June 7.
The intent behind the day is to promote awareness and encourage adequate steps to prevent, detect and manage food borne risks.
For this year the event is being commemorated under the theme ‘Food Standard Saves Lives’, which highlights the role of established food safety practices and standards that ensure food safety and quality.
Seychelles’ Food Safety Week, which will go on until June 9, 2023, recognises the remarkable efforts of the public health services, food business operators and individuals in promoting food safety.
Speaking at the official launch, the Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon, said that as this year was the fifth celebration since the day was initiated by the United Nations in 2018, it was important to raise awareness about food safety, which has become a major concern, now that there are more cases being reported about the poor quality of food.
He added that different types of chemicals are being added to food for preservation, to increase shelf life and to enhance taste, thus it was crucial to appreciate the importance of food safety and not just believe in luring advertisement and packaging.
In Seychelles, food standards are regulated by various laws such as the Food Act, the Seychelles Bureau of Standards Act, Bio-security Act and many other regulations. “Standards specify how food should be measured, packaged and transported to keep it safe,” stated Doctor Gedeon, adding that with unsafe food, children cannot learn and adults cannot concentrate to the best of their abilities.
He said safe food was therefore critical in promoting health and ending hunger.
“The message is clear: there can never be food security without food safety,” he stated.
For his part, the World Health Organisation representative, Dr Rex Mpazanje, pointed out that food standards are the way to protect consumers’ health and facilitate trade through consistent assurance for food safety and quality.
Referring to the theme, ‘Food standard saves lives’, Doctor Mpazanje stated it was an important call to action for Seychelles to further strengthen its capacity in implementing international food standards to protect the health of the population.
He said WHO fully identifies with this call to action and remains ready to support in strengthening the country’s capacity around the food value chain so that Seychelles benefits from these international standards, which are being modified and implemented around the world.
The launch of the Food Safety Week was followed by several presentations by Myra Bijoux from Food Control Unit, Rose-Mary Benoit from the public health laboratory and Nelson Charles from the department of agriculture.
Each presentation showcased the importance of food safety, the mandate and task of each mentioned department and their way forward to improve and maintain a good food value chain in Seychelles.
Activities during the week include a Food Safety Week march on Wednesday from the Red Roof building to Central Victoria and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Health and the Seychelles Bureau of Standards on Friday.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), it is estimated that 600 million people in the world fall ill after eating contaminated food, among which about 420,000 die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years.
Access to sufficient amounts of safe food is therefore the key to sustaining life and promoting good health.
