To celebrate World Food Safety Day 2023, the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), along with the Lebanese Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (LAFST) and the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR), organized a webinar to shed light on the importance of food standards and regulations, in line with this year’s theme, “Food Standards Save Lives.” A wide range of attendees joined the session, including students from various universities, food scientists, academics, researchers, food industrialists, and stakeholders who joined virtually from Lebanon and other regions.
Scientific discussions, insights, suggestions, and future considerations were tackled during the three-hour webinar. Dr. Jessy El Hayek, Dean of the FNHS, and Ms. Rana Cheiato, President of LAFST, began the meeting with welcome speeches. The keynote speakers were Ms. Cecile Obeid, FNHS Senior Lecturer, NDU Internship Coordinator, and Head of the Food Standards Division at LIBNOR, Ms. Zeina Nakat, Agri-Food Advisor, and Food Safety and Quality Lead Auditor and Trainer, Dr. Nada Darra, Associate Professor at Beirut Arab University (BAU), Ms. Fidele Achkar, CEO of FoodSight and entrepreneur, and Ms. Bassant Alaa, Food Safety and Infection Control specialist at MENA Food Safety Associates (MEFOSA), Egypt.
Obeid’s presentation emphasized the key points of Lebanese labelling standards, highlighting the challenges faced by the committee responsible for their development. She explained that the committee has thus adopted the Codex Alimentarius International Food Standards as reference while considering the requirements of the Lebanese market, thereby ensuring that food products meet internationally recognized safety and quality standards while catering to the local market’s needs. Obeid’s expertise and experience in the field allowed attendees to grasp the importance of these standards in safeguarding public health and guaranteeing consumer trust in food products.
As for Nakat, her presentation focused on food safety culture as a new phenomenon that has come to the forefront of food safety in recent years. She provided insight into the discrepancy between well-elaborated and fit-to-purpose food safety management systems, which may include national and international food safety-related legislations, and actual impact on food safety, as evidenced by the rise in foodborne illnesses and recalls. The missing link, per Nakat, is a behavior-based food safety management system with a focus on behavior and culture regarding food safety in an organization. According to the Codex 2020 edition, food safety culture in an organization must include the following elements:
- Management commitment as behavior should be modeled from top to down;
- Leadership to set the right direction and engage employees;
- Awareness of the importance of food hygiene by all employees;
- Open and clear communication; and
- Ensuring the availability of sufficient resources to implement the effective functioning of the food hygiene system.
Despite the challenges the Lebanese industry is facing, Nakat believes that the above is an accessible necessity that will bolster the market rather than deter its progress.
In terms of contamination, El Darra’s presentation zeroed in on the heavy metal contamination of herbs and spices in the country. This is largely attributed to the absence of proper treatment systems that consequently affect the export process and create border rejections. El Darra suggested some recommendations to remedy this issue: production facilities will benefit from purchasing safe raw material and investing in good storage and transport conditions. As for the decontamination itself, processes based on a combination of ultraviolet, infrared, and ozone sanitization have shown promising results and are worthy of further experimentation.
Achkar followed with her talk on the guidelines for exporting Lebanese agro-food products to external markets. The discussion directed special attention to the specific requirements to be considered for the stored and preserved foods, or mouneh, category. Challenges that hinder exports include:
- Lack of proper national and unified plans in implementing the necessary laws, infrastructure, and efforts towards fast tracking the export-readiness and access to market activities;
- Lack of awareness on processes and considerations by producers, especially on smaller and rural scales;
- Lack of proper targeted and non-overlapping technical and financial support to producers regarding the full cycle of export readiness; and
- Gaps between agro-food chain stakeholders preventing systematic streamlining of products to facilitate exports.
The success of this sector, explained Achkar, is highly dependent on resolving these challenges by working with the right stakeholders, enforcing laws and regulations, advocating for better food systems, and promoting unified supply and value chain activities.
The last presenter, Bassant, shed light on food fraud in its various manifestations, and how emerging tools, tech, and methods could be used to accurately detect fraudulent foods.
The event received positive feedback from participants, who expressed their gratitude for the valuable knowledge shared during the webinar. It served as a platform for experts and professionals in the field of food safety to exchange ideas and discuss challenges and opportunities in the context of the Lebanese industry and market.