Nestlé Pakistan celebrates World Food Safety Day

F.P. Report

LAHORE: In order to raise awareness regarding food safety, Nestlé Pakistan organized a live webcast on ‘World Food Safety Day’ along with Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR). The theme of the virtual event was ‘Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow’, which is also this year’s theme by World Health Organization.
Highlighting the challenges and opportunities around food safety, Dr Quratulain Syed, DG PCSIR said, “Food safety is a shared responsibility among producers, consumers and government bodies. Together we can lessen food-borne illnesses by practicing food safety at all levels.”
Mr. Rafaqat Ali, DG, Punjab Food Authority (PFA) said, “Since sky is the limit if you want to rectify something, PFA has aims to reach the pinnacle in ensuring food safety and quality, so that the burden of food borne illnesses are brought down to negligible levels.”
Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, Addl. DG Technical, PFA during his session said, “We are going to do everything possible to make sure that food safety is always of paramount importance and that we work with the industry as dedicatedly as we can to make sure that we are curtailing adulteration and ensuring provision of safe food towards a greater food safety culture in Pakistan in general and Punjab in particular.”
Sahar Samreen, Head of Quality Assurance, Nestle Pakistan while addressing the participants of the webcast said, “Safe food is the key towards a healthy life. The actions taken today to ensure safe food for a healthy tomorrow will lay down the foundation of a healthy future.”
Highlighting, Nestlé’s purpose, Samreen said, “Our purpose is to unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come, when we achieve this, we become a force for good.” She also shared Nestlé’s role in addressing micronutrient deficiencies by serving 3 billion fortified servings across the country in 2020, in line with UN SDG 3 of Good Health & Wellbeing.
Dr. Abdul Aleem Memon, DG Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority said, “Food standards help to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in trade. Science based food standards are the foundation of food safety.”
The webinar brought to light the importance of food safety regulation and implementation in Pakistan for the health of consumers and featured speaker sessions by Charlene De Witt, Head of Quality at Nestlé Africa & Oceania, Masood Sadiq Butt, President of Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists, Amir Hussain from Tetra Pak and Saad Hasan from Dada Dairy Farms.