Sahiwal, May 18, 2016
Background of the workshop
Concerns over food safety and quality are increasing worldwide. They are priority
issues for governments, food producers, industry, traders and consumers alike. The
burden of food borne diseases is significant in all parts of the world specially
developing countries like Pakistan. This has resulted in a decrease in consumer
confidence in some parts of the food supply. It has also had severe economic impact
on farmers and food industry in Pakistan. The effects of these concerns have signaled
a strong need to strengthen the food safety and quality systems in Pakistan in order
to reduce food borne diseases. Following the vision of Prof. Dr Abdul Waheed, Department
of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Sahiwal took the initiative
to educate and aware the stakeholders of food chains by organizing a technical workshop
on “Food Safety & Hygiene”.
Participants
More than 100 participants were present in the workshop. The participants include
food analysts, production and quality mangers, researchers, academicians and technical
managers of hotels. Following are the main participant Universities and organizations;
Islamia University Bahawalpur (15 participants who travelled all the way from BWP)
GCUF
Engro Foods
Government College of Technology, SWL
J.P. Foods Sahiwal
Montgomery foods
COMSATS Sahiwal
Bakers land SWL
National Alliance for Safe Food
University of Lahore
BBQ Tonight etc.
Opening ceremony
Opening ceremony of technical workshop on Food Safety & Hygiene was held on 18th
May 2016 at 10:30 AM in the CS-4 of CIIT Sahiwal. Participants welcomed the Chief
Guests Chief Engineer Dr. Zahir-ud-Din and Prof. Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zafar in the workshop
venue. Guest of honor of the event were Mr. Rana Muzaafar, owner J.P. Foods Sahiwal
and Rana Awais Khan, president National Alliance for Safe Food (NAFS). The ceremony
was started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by Naat.
Welcome Address
Dr. Hassan Riaz, coordinator, Department of Biosciences welcomed the participants
and guests. He focused the importance of food safety and hygiene for Pakistan and
enforced that awareness regarding food safety and quality issues must be provided
to all stakeholders of the food chain. He also appreciated the efforts of Dr. Abrar
Hussain to organize the event.
Chief Guest Address
Afterwards, Director Student Affairs Chief Engineer, Dr. Zahir-ud-Din was invited
for speech. He welcomed Mr. Muzaffar from J.P. Foods and other participants. During
his speech he also highlighted the importance of ISO-9001for improvement of food
quality and safety. He said “The demand on ISO certified foodstuffs, which are of
good quality, safe for consumption and not constituting any health risks, is also
maintained and gaining strength continuously on part of the consumers”. Finally,
he acknowledged the efforts of Dr. Abrar Hussain on organizing technical workshop.Prof.
Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zafar also appreciated the event activities and told about the improvement
of health status of the population through promoting food safety and hygiene.
1st Technical Session
Mr. Rana Awais, President National Alliance for Safe Food was given the floor to
start technical session on Food Quality and Hygiene. During the first session, he
talked about the current scenario of food quality and safety in Pakistan. Further,
he discussed the processes to reduce the incidence of food infections and food poisoning,
promoting education and training, and improving authority activities under legal
control. To start the long-term activity program, the elaboration of a comprehensive
national food safety program based on the ‘from farm to table’ principle was also
come under the discussion.
Refreshment Break & Discussion
After 1st technical session refreshment were given to all the participants. Question
& answer session was also continued during the refreshment break.
2nd Technical Session
During 2nd session of the workshop association of food safety with nutrition was
discussed. Ensuring the protection of public health is not restricted to the chemical,
biological and physical safety of food. Mr Rana Awais told that we should also aim
at ensuring the intake of essential nutrients while limiting the intake of other
elements in order to avoid adverse health effects, including anti-nutritional effects.
Scientific information has shown that an adequate and varied diet is a very important
factor in maintaining good health and overall well-being.
Concluding Remarks
Dr Abrar Hussain has given the concluding remarks on the workshop. He also thanked
the participants and Rana Awais Khan for his valuable suggestions and discussions.
Further, he enforced that nutritional status of foods also need to be addressed
in order to avoid malnutrition in Pakistan. Rana Muzaffar from J.P. Foods also gave
his remarks on food safety and quality in the last session of workshop.
Presentation of Shields to Guests and Organizers
The Workshop was concluded by distribution of shields to the distinguished speaker,
guests and organizers of the event. Afterwards, the guests and participants visited
the Montgomery Museum at CIIT, Sahiwal.