Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has launched the Food Safety and Food Authenticity Strategy to an audience of key stakeholders in the agri-food sector and regulatory partners from Government and State bodies.
Minister Creed emphasised that “there can be no compromise on food safety and the integrity of the food chain. These are the primary building blocks of this Departments work”.
Food Safety
The strategy will respond to a number of challenges that the agri-food sector will have to overcome in the not too distant future, such as new food legislation, the objectives of Food Wise 2025, food authenticity concerns and safety threats.
“We must be clear and unequivocal about this commitment to food safety and public health. And we must ensure that the outcomes of our change programme has real and substantive impact and deliver maximum value for the consumer here and abroad,” the Minister said.
“Our future plans for food safety and food authenticity are ambitious but we should not fear the breadth of our ambition as we dedicate our resources to improvement. Our objective now is to rise to the challenge and undertake the necessary steps to meet our goals, and reach our ambition. We intend to pursue those goals with energy and enthusiasm”.
Consumer Protection
Dr. Pamela Byrne, chief executive, Food Safety Authority of Ireland welcomed the Department’s Food Safety and Food Authenticity strategy stating that it further strengthens collaborative approaches across all stakeholders in the agri food sector in Ireland with a clear focus on consumer protection.
“This is an important initiative that sets out a clear strategy to further protect consumer health within an ever changing and innovating global food supply system. Assuring authenticity, monitoring the food chain, detecting fraudulent and deception practices and continually developing the best food safety systems aligned to new and emerging food safety legislation, is embedded in our organisation’s DNA,” she said.
“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Department and assist them in delivering on their ambitions and objectives. This Strategy also continues to support the FSAI’s regulatory position of seeking to deliver safe and trustworthy food for everyone”.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
