DOHA: The Ministry of Public Health has prepared a comprehensive action plan for monitoring and controlling various types of contaminants in all types of food for the next five years, as part of the initiatives under the objectives of the Global Food Safety Strategy 2022-2030, which was developed by the World Health Organization with the aim of reducing the burden of foodborne diseases.
The Ministry of Public Health indicated in a statement that the implementation of the plan began at the beginning of 2024, through the analysis of the monitoring team in the Ministry’s Food Safety Department of the data of all samples withdrawn from the regulatory authorities during the years 2023-2024, which numbered more than 30,000 samples, in addition to 400,000 test results (sample test), in order to determine the priorities of monitoring and control programs for potential contaminants in food in the State of Qatar.
The plan also included preparing and issuing a monitoring report on pesticide residues in imported and local vegetables and fruits in cooperation between the inspection departments and food safety laboratories in the Food Safety Department. The report was presented to the Food Risk Management Team at the Ministry of Public Health, which issued recommendations to implement the necessary preventive measures to ensure the highest level of safety and security of vegetables and fruits traded in the State of Qatar, in addition to other monitoring programs such as the percentage of salt in bread and microbial contaminants in fish in central markets.
Based on the principle of 'Food safety is a shared responsibility' and to activate cooperation with its strategic partners, the Food Safety Department at the Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality, developed a monitoring plan for veterinary drug residues in slaughtered animals inside slaughterhouses in the State of Qatar.
The plan included launching a survey last December, which includes in its first phase, which will last for three months, commercial slaughterhouses (Al Wakra Central Slaughterhouse, Umm Salal and Al Khor Slaughterhouses), after which the second phase of the survey will be launched, which is concerned with veterinary drug residues in slaughtered animals in private slaughterhouses for a period of three months.
Food risk monitoring and surveillance activities are activated in accordance with the highest international practices, within the framework of adopting a risk analysis approach in which risk management and decision-making are based on scientific foundations arising from monitoring and risk analysis activities.
Monitoring and surveillance systems represent the first line of defense against food-related risks as they are an effective tool for early detection of risks and thus rapid response and effective handling of food incidents, which contributes to reducing exposure to foodborne pathogens.
Food risk monitoring and surveillance activities include periodic updating of the list of precautionary measures for common foodborne diseases (avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, and mad cow disease) through the joint team between the Food Safety Department at the Ministry of Health and the Animal Wealth Department at the Ministry of Municipality. The update is done according to the epidemiological situation based on the World Organization for Animal Health.
It is worth noting that food risks require the continuous enhancement of technical capabilities in tracking potential risks through monitoring, analysis and continuous survey programmes.
