SRINAGAR: The Food and Drugs Administration, Drugs & Food Control Organization, today organized various programmes to commemorate the World Food Safety Day, across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The theme of this year’s World Food Safety Day was “Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected,” that aimed to raise awareness and support actions and plans to achieve ‘safer food for a healthier planet. The initiative also intended to highlight the role of government in preparing for the unexpected by committing to national plans for food safety emergency responses, strengthening surveillance systems and enhancing monitoring capabilities. The celebration also emphasised the importance of the roles of both food companies and consumers in preparing for unexpected incidents.
As part of the program, two mega programmers were held at Jammu and Srinagar districts which were presided over by Commissioner Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Hashmat Ali and Deputy Commissioner Food Safety Kashmir Division respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, the Commissioner FDA said that “Food needs to be safe, nutritious, sufficient and affordable. From producers to consumers, Food Safety is everyone’s business. We need to work collectively and better prepare for unexpected challenges to prevent foodborne illnesses and save lives”. He further said that Food Safety wing of Drugs & Food control organization has achieved numerous accomplishments in the area of “preparing for the unexpected,” which is this year’s World Food Safety Day theme. Key achievements included effective communication with the National Contact Point through Food Safety Emergency Response System and activation of a multidisciplinary team (Enforcement/ICLC) besides strengthening of the roles of surveillance, response and emergency preparedness in food safety.
The Deputy Commissioner Food Safety Kashmir, in her address, said that “we all as stakeholders need to join hands to contribute towards promotion of safe and healthy food safety culture through participation in various eat right initiatives of Eat Right India Movement”. She further said that this day signifies that food safety is a shared responsibility of the government, producers and consumers and everyone has a role to play to ensure the food we consume is safe and healthy.
During organizing the events, the department in collaboration with the other line departments of the district administrations showcased different activities including Skit-Jingles, Poster Competition, Seminars, Quiz, Lectures, Presentation, Walkathon, Display of Mobile Food Testing Vans etc.
The events witnessed huge participation of various stakeholders including Joint Commissioner Food Safety, J&K, Deputy Commissioner Food Safety, Jammu, Food Safety Officers, Food Analysts, Civil Society Members, Presidents/ Chairman of various Food Business Associations and NGOs, College and school students, teachers, lecturers, Professors and common masses.
All the events concluded with the Slogan “Let’s Make Food Safety Everyone’s Business” and a pledge on the subject was also taken by all the participants.
All the participants were requested to approach the department through any medium for feedback on food safety and quality issues and register their grievances and complaints at toll free number 104, for redressal.
