Earlier this month, FAO began an assessment to improve the food control system in Egypt. The 6.4-million-euro project, "Strengthening of Capacities and Governance in Food and Phytosanitary Control” project, funded by the European Union (EU) since December 2021, is providing technical support and working with Competent Authorities and other leading institutions in 12 African Union member countries to build up capabilities, strengthen governance and improve strategic planning around two main components: food safety and plant health. Following a recent extension granted by the EU, Egypt has become one of the two additional beneficiaries of the project,...

The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has published its summary report of the 98th meeting. International experts gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome from 20 to 29 February 2024 to evaluate the safety of residues from veterinary drugs, representing the 25th JECFA meeting to specifically consider this topic. Alan Chicoine (University of Saskatchewan) served as Chairperson and Alan R. Boobis (Imperial College London) as Vice-Chairperson, while Holly Erdely (United States Food and Drug Administration) and Angelo Moretto (University of Padova) served as rapporteurs for FAO and WHO, respectively. Vittorio Fattori (FAO) remarked on the...

The 2024 joint FAO and WHO World Food Safety Day campaign has been launched today, and the year’s theme has been revealed as: Food safety - prepare for the unexpected. The campaign will explore issues around unexpected food safety incidents that can occur even when we have all played our part to keep food safe. Such incidents can be as simple as a power outage at home and the subsequent challenges in storing food safely. On the other end of the scale, international food safety alerts involve contamination or potential contamination within the food supply, the origins...

Last week FAO concluded an eight-month assessment of Zimbabwe’s food control system with a final workshop in Harare where a strategic action plan was presented to high level officials for their endorsement. The assessment is part of "Strengthening of Capacities and Governance in Food and Phytosanitary Control,” a 6.4-million-euro project funded by the European Union (EU) since December 2021. With a recent extension, the project will expand its reach, offering technical support to Competent Authorities and key institutions across 12 African Union Member Countries. It is designed to build up capabilities, strengthen governance, and improve strategic...

FAO, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), will hold a stakeholder roundtable meeting on cell-based food production and precision fermentation on 10 October 2024. This is the third meeting in the series, and relevant developers, producers and researchers can apply to the call to present their original products. A call for presenters is now open, and the selected presenters will have an opportunity to meet other stakeholders from various parts of the world to discuss their products and to share relevant experiences. The meeting will capture a snapshot for the 2024...

The 98th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is taking place from 20-29 February 2024 at FAO headquarters in Rome. This session brings together international experts to assess residues of veterinary drugs in food. Vittorio Fattori, FAO Food Safety Officer, Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF), noted that “As an independent scientific expert committee, JECFA has been meeting since 1956 to evaluate the safety of food additives, contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and residues of veterinary drugs in food. The scientific advice provided by JECFA has been and continues to be the...

Dr Kabayiza is the Government Coordinator of the “Strengthening Food Control and Phytosanitary Capacities and Governance” in Rwanda. He has been Chief Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade since 2021. We wanted to learn more about him, about his background, what led him to our project and how he sees the project impacting his country.   Can you tell us about yourself? About your background and how you got involved in food safety and the project specifically? I have held the position of Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) for the Ministry of Trade and...

In Uganda, FAO recently concluded a comprehensive assessment of the national food control system. The nine-month assessment culminated in a final workshop held in Kampala where high-level officials gathered to review and endorse the final report and strategic action plan. Mr. Paul Mwambu, Commissioner from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, discussed the success of the assessment during the closing event, noting “Over the past months, we have witnessed remarkable progress in our efforts to strengthen food control in Uganda.” The assessment is part of "Strengthening of Capacities and Governance in Food and Phytosanitary...

The European Union (EU) recently announced a six-month extension, expanding the scope of an ongoing project led by FAO to advance food safety and plant health in the African Union (AU). This extension will now benefit three more countries, allowing for four additional assessments to take place. The project "Strengthening Food Control and Phytosanitary Capacities and Governance" was launched in November of 2022 with EU funding to complete comprehensive assessments of the food control and/or phytosanitary systems in 11 AU member countries. Thanks to the extension, the team of experts from the FAO and the IPPC Secretariat leading the project will be...

From 29 to 30 January 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will host a technical workshop on whole genome sequencing (WGS) application in water and foodborne disease outbreaks in Lima, Peru. The meeting is being organized jointly with the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). Global knowledge of pre-harvest factors in food safety with the water quality issue is currently drawing an attention as it is still largely limited. As global water scarcity may result in pushing towards the use of poor-quality water sources, better understanding of the connections between water quality and food safety...