PUTRAJAYA: All parties throughout the food supply chain must be prepared to face any unforeseen events that could disrupt and affect the nation’s food safety, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Speaking at the 2024 National Food Safety Conference here today, he said this initiative aligned with the theme of the 2024 World Food Safety Day, ‘Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected’.
Dzulkefly also highlighted that the Food Safety and Quality Programme (PKKM) was crucial in ensuring public health.
“PKKM is the ‘first gatekeeper for food safety’ to ensure that consumers always receive safe and high-quality food.
“We cannot always be in crisis, for example, food poisoning that often affects our children in schools due to pathogens like salmonella. How many more times must such incidents happen?” he said.
“Aside from safety, food quality must also be maintained if we want to ensure that the public is protected from not only infectious diseases but also non-communicable diseases and malnutrition,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that through PKKM, it would continue to lead and strengthen the control of the nation’s food safety alongside all relevant stakeholders to ensure that Malaysians continued to enjoy safe and high-quality food.
According to the statement, MOH will continue to organise various high-impact programmes to ensure there is sufficient knowledge and awareness related to food safety among all stakeholders.
“Food safety is a shared responsibility. The public is advised to always practise ‘observe and select, as well as look, smell, and taste’ as these are the easiest steps to prevent food poisoning,“ the statement read.
The 2024 National Food Safety Conference, organised by the International Food Safety Training Centre through PKKM, in collaboration with the Food Safety Association of Malaysia, is a two-day event until tomorrow, bringing together more than 500 participants from industries, government and non-governmental organisations, academia, and students from public and private higher education institutions.
