The Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Mauritius (UoM) actively celebrated World Food Safety Day to create awareness around the important role food safety plays, through a half-day workshop on 7 June 2023. The programme for the workshop was carefully planned to include some of the most pressing issues in food safety in Mauritius. Speakers were from the University of Mauritius, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Codex Contact Point for Mauritius, the Mauritius Standards Bureau, the food industry and the hospitality sector.

A series of pre-workshop activities (training of different stakeholders like planters, street food vendors, schoolchildren, foreign workers in the local food industry), a Youth Forum on Food Safety to explore the food safety concerns of youth and the role they can play in promoting food safety and a quiz on food safety and food hygiene were organized. A poster exhibition was also held to showcase programmes of studies in the area of Food Science and Technology, research topics on food safety and hygiene at the Faculty of Agriculture, training materials for the training activities and WHO guidelines on food safety.

During the Opening Ceremony, the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius and to the Republic of Seychelles, H.E. Mr Vincent Degert highlighted the engagement of the European Union in advancing food safety. During her remarks, Celine Lemmel, the acting United Nation Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles emphasized there are many stakeholders along the food chain and that it is necessary for their cooperation to ensure food safety, which contributes to achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals. The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Mauritius, Dr Anne Ancia, also attended the function.

Given that the Ministry of Agroindustry and Food Security plays a key role in ensuring food safety locally, the Codex Contact point was requested to deliver a talk on the importance of Codex standards for food safety. It was a good opportunity for the Codex Contact Point in Mauritius, Shalini Neeliah, to highlight the measures taken by the Ministry for establishing Codex structures and processes and implementing the Codex Trust Fund project in Mauritius, the scientific basis for Codex work and the accrued importance of Codex standards as international benchmark for food safety in the trade of agrifood products, with the establishment of the World Trade Organization.

The target audience of this initiative was university students, research scientists, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, consumers, stakeholders of the food and hospitality sectors, consultants, and policy makers.

This event has been generously supported the European Union (under the DeSIRA project), Princes Tuna (Mauritius) Ltd, Moroil Ltd and F.A.L.C.O.N association.

Photo © Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Mauritius (UoM)