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GNBS laments need for better food safety practices
….urges consciousness among consumers
The implications of not adhering to safe and hygienic food production and distribution practices were repeatedly emphasized during yesterday’s one-day food symposium hosted by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards.
Executive Director of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, Candelle Walcott-Bostwick
The forum, held in the conference room of the Guyana National Library, was geared specifically at sensitizing local food manufacturers and producers, under the theme, ‘Make Food Safety a Priority’.
The bureau’s Executive Director, Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, lamented on the failure of local businesses to follow the standards set by GNBS, based on international best practices.
She explained that since many of the food safety standards and the rules that apply to them are not mandatory, many businesses fail to comply.
While the onus is on manufacturers to ensure that their products are of a high standard in every regard, a large amount of responsibility is also on consumers.
“In Guyana we have a society where people prefer a mandatory system in place, which is not the best.”
Walcott-Bostwick made reference to the recent incident involving a popular Georgetown Chinese restaurant, where one customer reported to have found a human tooth in a box of ‘chicken fried rice’.
She explained that had proper food handling procedures been followed by the Chinese business, such a tooth finding incident would not have arisen.
“They would have had a system in place to prevent those unwanted items from getting out into the end product,” Walcott-Bostwick added.
The Executive Director explained that this particular incident will have to be looked into by public health officials.
“Food safety issues are very fragmented in Guyana…We have different agencies responsible for different components.”
Walcott-Bostwick is encouraging customers to ensure that they peruse the information usually plastered on the label of every packaged product. These include the basics like expiration date, quality, and price.
In relation to especially the labels that appear on containers, labels that are clear and accurate are prescribed. While this is usually enforced and monitored, there needs to be a more aggressive approach in this regard.
Walcott-Bostwick specified that the bureau will now be carefully inspecting the net content of products on the local market. She said that manufacturers are required to ensure that the packages of their products have the net content displayed in metric units
“If it is not in conformance with what are stated, necessary changes will have to be made,” Walcott-Bostwick said.
The soon to come Food Safety Bill is expected to serve as guidelines for a more comprehensive and all-rounded plan to deal with food safety issues affecting the country.
The document, which was forwarded to a Special Select Committee during a Parliamentary sitting last month, was presented by Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder.
It is hoped the Bill will provide a strong basis on which Guyana can prevent the spread of food borne diseases that occur due to the improper production, preparation, handling, storage and transportation of food products.
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