What are the Issues?

2. What are the Issues? • Growing Food Trade and Emerging Pathogens. • Diversity of Population. • Large turnover of employees in food industry due to sudden growth. • Difficulty in providing trainings to food handlers due to language barriers. • Lack of Food Safety Awareness among public.

3. Media does not contribute much to increase awareness and provide right information and role of the media is not defined. • Lack of research and Development in Food Safety in the region. • Shortage of Competent Food Safety Professionals. • Lack of Data on the prevalence of Foodborne Diseases. • Lack of coordination between different Authorities and organizations that are involved in gathering data regarding foodborne illnesses. • Dependence on External data.

4. Issues of the Day 1. Large turnover of employees in food industry due to sudden growth ● Food handled by untrained people in small restaurants and cafeterias 2.Media does not contribute much to increase awareness and provide right information ● Role of the media is not defined 3. Lack of Food Safety Awareness among public 4. Shortage of Competent Food Safety Professionals

5. Issue # 1 Large turnover of employees in food industry due to sudden growth - Food handled by untrained people in small restaurants and cafeterias

9. What is the definition of Food Handlers? “Any person who directly handles packaged or unpackaged food, food equipment and utensils, or food contact surfaces and is therefore expected to COMPLY with food hygiene requirements” Codex Alimentarius

10. General personal hygiene of food handlers • The law requires a high standard of personal cleanliness for everyone working in a food establishment: • Sickness • Protective over clothing • Hand washing • Jewellery and cosmetics • Eating and drinking

11. Food Handler Standard “RECOMMENDED INTERNATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE” CAC/RCP 1-1969, Rev. 4-20031

12. Food handlers in U.A.E. • The majority of food handlers in U.A.E. they are in the category of read and write only with no qualification. • Most of food handlers working in the small restaurants and cafeterias as a TEMPORARY job not more than one year. • Most of them have little information about food safety.

13. The majority of them do not wearing protecting clothes when they come into direct contact with food (Aprons, gloves, head covers). • Most of food handlers working in the small restaurants and cafeterias are washing their hands BEFORE they handling the food. • Most of them washing their hand with soap and water, HOWEVER, some of them they wash with water only.

14. Most of them also aware of inform the boss in case of sickness. And some of them they are IGNORANT. • Their general information about Personal hygiene, holding temperature, serving temperature, storage condition, raw and cooked food are very POOR. • Some BAD practices were noticed during preparation, handling and serving food.

15. Pictures of the Day

19. Issue # 2 Media does not contribute much to increase awareness and provide right information - Role of the media is not defined

20. A survey was conducted by college of Food and Agriculture (UAE University) students to evaluate the contribution of news papers in increase the food safety awareness among public • Newspapers: - Al Ittihad - Albayan - Alkhaleej - Khaleej Times - Al Ain Times - Al fajr - Arab News

21. Most of journalists find that the food safety awareness among the public is GOOD. • Most of them publish news about food poisoning or bad practices in restaurants and food service establishments WEEKLY. • The majority of the journalists get the information about outbreaks and bad restaurants practices by them SELF.

22. HOWEVER, some food control authorities provide the journalist with updated information about food outbreaks MONTHLY. • The majority of the journalists evaluated the food control authorities in area of providing the information regarding food outbreaks as NOT SUPPORTIVE. • Journalists DISAGREE that medias not participate in raising awareness and not giving the correct information to the public.

23. Why? • Ignorance of the public regarding any article related to the food and safety and awareness. • Journalists duties is to publish what information they have, and the food control authorities should help in publish the correct information. • Journalists are not expertise's in food safety so lots of help needed from the food safety specialist.

24. Why? • The lack of the communication between the media, food control authorities and the food expertise's effect in the public awareness. • Most of the news paper has cretin pages for health and food safety every week to raise the awareness through the public.

25. How can the media raise the awareness among the public in the area of food safety? • Food safety is responsibility of every one, media, consumer and authorities should cooperative with each other: - Food authorities provide correct information - Media publish the correct information - Consumer not to be ignorant • Provide the medias with all updated information and recent researches.

26. Increase the numbers of articles related to the food safety. • Use simple information to reach the consumer at all levels. • Find out the consumer need and do more search and update them with finding. • TRANSPARENCY is very important between the food control authorities, media and the public.

27. Establish PROGRAM between the authorities and the media to reach the goal in public awareness. • The published information should focus in awareness not marketing. • Daily update information to the public and let them aware of any food poising occur and who is responsible for it. • Focus in the bad practices done by the CONSUMER him self because of lack of the awareness.

28. News of the Day

30. Issue # 3 • Lack of Food Safety Awareness among public A survey was conducted by college of Food and Agriculture (UAE University) students to evaluate food safety information among the students and employees in UAE university

31. 90% of them DAILY eat outside the house. • 58% of them NOT washing their hand BEFORE their meal when they eating outside. And 20% using HAND SANITAIZER. • The majority of people mixed up between food safety and NUTRITION (Calories, Fruits and vegetable, Protein and carbohydrate, Vitamins, Diet). • Most of them aware of food poising BUT they don’t have any clue about any bacteria causing food poisoning.

32. 77% of the surveyed people DON’T take any action or complain if they noticed any bad food practices by food handlers. • Majority of people look over the EXPIRATION DAY of the products (68%). Some of them they don’t give any attention to the labels (32%). • Large number of E mail that give information about food led the public to be more aware and ask for more information. • 90% of the people think that the food control authorities in the country doing their job properly regarding the food issues, HOWEVERE, they think that we are in the early stage and we will reach the EXCELLENT one day.

33. Issue # 4 • Shortage of Competent Food Safety Professionals - Food Safety is still in its early stage - We need people with expertise in different aspects of food safety ► UAE University: 40 students Graduate every year ► Sharjah University: 10 inspectors graduate every year

34. GOVERNMENTCreate/Monitor CONSUMERS FOOD INDUSTRY Implement UNIVERSITIESAnalyze/Educate Responsibility of Food Safety

35. Thank You