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Healthy markets for safer food Singapore – a case study

Healthy markets for safer food Singapore – a case study. A/Prof Ng Lee Ching. Director Environmental Health Institute (EHI) National Environment Agency (NEA) Singapore. Meeting on Strengthening INFOSAN and National Food Control Systems in Asia Manila, Philippines 10-12 Dec, 2013.

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Healthy markets for safer food Singapore – a case study

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  1. Healthy markets for safer foodSingapore – a case study A/Prof Ng Lee Ching Director Environmental Health Institute (EHI) National Environment Agency (NEA) Singapore Meeting on Strengthening INFOSAN and National Food Control Systems in Asia Manila, Philippines 10-12 Dec, 2013

  2. Food safety in Singapore: a multi-agency approach AVA One Health Coordinating Committee and Working Committee NEA MOH Image: www.cdc.gov

  3. Integrated Food Safety System

  4. Surveillance Education Food Hygiene programme Licensing Enforcement Horizon Scanning, Research and Risk Assessment Systematic approach to identify emerging issues and risk Monitor and evaluate risk, regulatory policies & technology

  5. Markets and hawker centres in Singapore • Historical background • Resettling street hawkers

  6. Historical background 1950s - early 1960s: street hawking was rampant • High unemployment • Low capital required • Entry to trade relatively easy No control over street hawkers 6

  7. Historical background • Lack of direct potable water supply • Food not hygienicallystored, prepared and served • Food and liquid wastes not properly disposed • Poor public health • Waterways polluted • Pests/vermin proliferated 7

  8. Dilapidated makeshift stalls by street hawkers General appearance of city deteriorated Historical background • Human movement greatly impeded • Streets practically inaccessible to traffic 8

  9. In 1968/69, conducted island-wide registration of street hawkers (cooked food and market produce) issued temporary licences to street hawkers resettled street hawkers to back lanes, car parks and vacant land Resettling street hawkers • From 1971 to 1986: • Government embarked on programme to construct hawker centres (markets / food centres) with proper amenities to resettle 18,000 street hawkers 9

  10. Subsidised rent to entice move Collaboration by various governmental agencies : • Ministry of Environment (ENV) • Housing and Development Board (HDB) – residential areas • Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) – industrial areas • Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) – near ports Resettling street hawkers/vendors 10

  11. Facilities in hawker centres Water Supply Toilets Lightings Bin Centre Gas Supply 11

  12. 2000: Hawker centres Upgrading Programme (HUP) Before upgrading 12

  13. Hawker centres Upgrading Programme (HUP) After upgrading 13

  14. A new generation of hawker centres 10 new hawker centres to be built by 2017 Moving forward NEA’s Hawker Centres Division’s mission statement: “To develop and maintain hawker centres as vibrant, communal spaces, offering a wide variety of affordable food, in a clean and hygienic environment.”

  15. Commitment, Planning • and Enforcement • The resettlement exercise took 15 years. • Better facility and hygiene in new areas • Assuring hawkers that their “old” place will not be occupied by other illegals (strong enforcement) • - Resettling only a portion of hawkers in a particular area was not effective, as it created more lucrative opportunities for those who were left or took over the vacated place. • Maintenance and renewal of facilities • Success Factors

  16. Improving hygiene in markets Key initiatives • Phasing out poultry slaughtering • Cold chain system

  17. Key initiatives Phasing out poultry slaughtering Poultry slaughtered in unhygienic conditions in markets Live poultry caused smell and noise nuisances Feathers and viscera choked up sewer lines • Increasing concern over the use of hormones and antibiotics in livestock 17

  18. Poultry to be slaughtered in abattoirs under clean and hygienic conditions Poultry slaughtering in abattoirs allow pre- and post-slaughtering checks Birds carcasses are also tagged with date of slaughtering to guarantee freshness of product Slaughtering of live poultry prohibited in markets since 1992 Key initiatives Phasing out poultry slaughtering 18

  19. Public engagement – convincing the consumers, market by market, in phase. Media and grassroots involved. • Close collaboration with Primary Production Department, (current AVA, under Ministry of National Development), to give public confidence in the quality and freshness of the meat • With the scare of avian influenza, public is even more convinced of the benefits. • Success Factors

  20. Key initiatives Cold chain system Before 1999 • Fresh meat retailed w/o refrigeration • Exposed to ambient temperature • Hygiene and food safety problems • Nutritional & bacteriological quality deteriorate rapidly • Carcasses delivered in open trucks or left unattended • Exposed to heat, dust & vermin 20

  21. After Nov 1999 • Fresh meat to be sold in chilled condition • Temperature maintained throughout the entire process i.e. from abattoirs to point of retail • Mandatory by law • Stallholders to install own display chillers Key initiatives Cold chain system 21

  22. Communication of the benefits, public engagement through the media, public acceptance. Confidence building. • Nipah outbreak offered an opportunity when community had heightened awareness on public health • Success factors iii. Close collaboration with AVA – Abbatoir to Markets

  23. Surveillance We survey for sale of adulterated meat Authentication tests • Species identification e.g. mixing of meat (beef & mutton), cod fish • Freeze thaw e.g. frozen thawed pork sold as chilled pork

  24. Safe food in Hawker Centres • Licensing, Surveillance, Enforcement, Inspection, Education • Risk stratification for risk based deployment of resources

  25. Food types were assigned different levels of risk based on surveillance data, and nature of food and handling processes. • Hawker stalls were assigned to different risk categories depending on the food types sold • Frequency of educational visits is to be revised following the food outlets’ risk categories • Development of a risk-based inspection framework for hawker stalls (ready to eat food) – Pilot 25

  26. ST 9 ST 155 ST 7 Molecular Epidemiology Tracking down the source of contamination of retail food ST 87 • Molecular epidemiology • Use of genetic sequencing • Determination of genetic similarities between pathogens isolated from different sources • Identification of importers/ manufacturerscontributing to different lineages of Listeria • No clustering with reference epidemic clones • Sharing of findings with AVA for further investigation upstream of the food chain ST 2 Lineage I Lineage II ST 403 Lineage III 26

  27. Community Partnership • Food COMPASS: pilot crowd sourcing initiative with School of Public Health, NUS • NEA Hotline

  28. Complex Ecosystem: 3P Partnership Public, Private, People PSA JTC Training providers for food handlers HDB Private Labs MOH NEA Food vendors/ industry AVA Community Media Academia 28

  29. Thank you

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