Confederation of Indian Industry as a part of its National Initiative Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan had organized the 11th CII Food Safety and Quality Summit. In the current global scenario where Scientific advances are increasing our ability to detect hazards and identify risks, new technologies and traceability combined with social media, are giving consumers unprecedented transparency into not only the food they purchase but also on the origins and ingredients of their food, thus resulting in food safety as one of the ‘Top of the Mind’ issues. With India emerging as the food basket for the globe, there is a need to continue to strengthen our strategies around food safety using Science based Risk Analysis principles to achieve global excellence in food safety.
Mr. Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety Standards Authority of India emphasized that one of the key activities that FSSAI is doing is to build an atmosphere of trust among various stakeholders to ensure food safety. The practices prevalent in other countries are being benchmarked by India to create a uniform regulatory environment which is a key to food safety. He mentioned an investment of Rs. 500 crores is being made for upgrading the laboratory infrastructure in the country.
Mrs. Awilo Ochieng Pernet, Chairperson, Codex Alimentarius Commission emphasized that to combat food borne diseases, food safety across the entire food value chain needs to be monitored effectively. She thanked CII’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence for bringing “Food Safety” in the spot light.
Mr. Sanjay Dave, Chairman, Steering Committee of Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan & Former Chairman, Codex Alimentarius Commission mentioned that lack of Food Safety always affects the economies of countries. He explained that as a part of “Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan” CII on one hand was creating awareness to increase demand of safe food and on the other hand building capacity in the country to produce Safe Food.
Ms. Geetu Verma, Chairperson, CII Task Force on Food Regulatory Affairs & Executive Director – Foods, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) highlighted that in complex Food Supply Chains, Food Safety takes centre stage. She emphasized that food security, safety and nutritional security should be aligned to each other. She mentioned “the three pillars for a safe food value chain are education of consumers, accessibility to safe and nutritious food and practical legislations having risk based approach”.
Mr. Piruz Khambatta, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Food Processing & Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna International emphasized that the country is witnessing a positive shift in Food Regulatory Ecosystem and thanked Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for strengthening the Food Regulatory regime in India to facilitate trade, to encourage ease of doing business and most importantly to ensure safe food for our consumers.
Mr. Ravi Mathur, Chairman, CII Expert Group on Food Safety & Quality & CEO, GS1 made mention of the work being done by GS1 for creating a recall portal along with FSSAI.
The industry CEO’s of HUL, Nestle, Cargill, Rasna and Mother Dairy emphasized the need of building a safe food value chain right from the source point to consumption point. The complex supply chain needs to be strengthened at all critical points to ensure that the safest food reaches the consumer. The industry captains also acknowledged the changing consumer patterns and shift towards safe and nutritious food.
The summit was addressed by eminent speakers including Mr. Paul Mayers, Vice-President – Policy and Program Branch, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Dr. Vele Pat Ila’ava – Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Papua New Guinea, Ms. Siew Moi, Regional Expert on Chemical Contaminants, Nestle Singapore, Dr. Jeffrey Lejeune, Consultant FAO, Mr. Rogerio Pereira Da Silva – Co-ordinator Codex Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Dr. Arpad Ambrus, Chief Scientific Advisor and Chair for CCMAS National Food Chain Safety Office, Hungary, Mr. Dean Rugnetta, Deputy Director, USFDA - India Office.
During the 2 day summit there would be deliberations on Strengthening Farm Practices, Emerging Food Safety Risks and their mitigation, International Food Safety Regulatory regimes, Science behind Claims Validation & Substantiation and Best Practices from Farm to Fork and the Summit also provided extensive networking opportunities with industry peers and domain experts. The summit was attended by more than 200 Food Safety & Quality professionals and more than 50 speakers of national and international repute.
6 December 2016
New Delhi