The National Food Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) representation offices in Georgia, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia and the Georgian Technical University all joined forces to mark World Food Safety Day on 7 June, together with their partners and donor organizations.

Two events were organized. A public-facing event held in Rike Park in Tbilisi involved a range of “thematic, informative and entertaining activities” including a food market and food safety-related games, “to make sure that we had a possibility to reach various audiences of every age starting from children to grownups including future professionals of the food safety field,” according to organizers. Speakers at the event included the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the Chair of the Committee on Agrarian Issues at the Parliament of Georgia, the Head of the National Food Agency, and FAO and WHO Representatives in Georgia.

The second event was a public lecture on “Food Safety is Everyone’s Business“, held at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Biosystems Engineering of the Georgian Technical University in Tbilisi. The lecture was given by the Scientific Director at the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Professor Paata Imnadze, and by Mikheil Sokhadze, the project team leader at FAO Georgia. They spoke about zoonotic and food-related infections and the importance of traceability of animal products, and the "from farm to table" principle in improving food safety.

The events saw extensive media coverage, with TV and press reports helping to spread the food safety messages.

Read more from FAO in Georgia
Read more from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia
Read more from the National Food Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia 

Photo © FAO Georgia