| |
Food Control
The Importance
of Food Control Systems in Regard to international Variables
The twentieth century has seen a great progress in all
fields of science and technology. The most accurate
systems for analysis were invented and heath hazards
that were unknown before became familiar. It has also
been proved that food safety and quality control system
cannot be efficient or appropriate to protect the consumer
from these hazards unless an integrated legislation
beside the proper analysis and inspection under a powerful
well-arranged administration were introduced.
A. Legislation
Food control legislations determine the safe conditions
for food production, manufacturing, marketing and advertising
as well as handling concerns. These legislations specifically
dictate how to apply the law in order to let all of
the Staff know the direct instructions necessary to
ensure smoothness and vitality of work, with the respect
that the increasing need of conveying matters to higher
authorities for final decisions should be avoided..
Due to the fast technical improvement in food industry
and the increasing possibility of deliberate adulteration
and contamination, and in order to review the legislations
properly, the new trends have set two parts of food
legislation:
Legislative part : presents the basic principle
of food which contains sustainable rules related to
general legislatives, importation, guarantees, administration
and implementation, procedures, replacement and modification
concerns.
Executive Part :
- General definitions
- Inspection rules
- Sample-taking and analyzing methods
- Wrapping
- Filing fact cards (illustrative cards)
- Advertisement
- Specifications or components of food
- Persona; cleanliness and healthy handling circumstances
- Kind and concentration of additives
- Maximum allowed limits of insecticides (and any
other chemicals)
- Remainders of metallic, radiant and fungal contamination
- Special and children food needs. etc.
When revising drafts of law becomes a necessity in view
of any new practical knowledge and improvement in manufacturing
methods or as emergency cases arise, the legislative
or the executive system can immediately undertake this
task.
For this purpose, differentiation should be made between
quality levels and compulsory least standards of specifications
according to food control rules and any other scale
or quality specifications set by Quality-Conservation
Organizations in order to improve or upgrade food industry.
Inspection drafts of law should be drawn up in clear
and concise language that enables food inspectors, manufacturers,
importers and exporters and consumers to understand
their rights and duties. It's preferable to put the
drafts of law and the rules together in one non-bound
document in the reach of all concerned people.
B. Analysis services
Food control saying cannot be provided aside from ample services of analysis.
The routine test is or importance to avoid health hazards or influence on the consumer or the government economy.
Hence, there is no way to verify the validity of suspected contravention without the laboratory analysis.
In many cases procedural analysis becomes necessary to make a wise decision about the
fitness or edibility of food for correspondence with its rationed or advertised ingredients..
Different type of equipment is necessary for laboratories.
Beside chemicals, glassy and hard tools, there is the extremely accurate equipment,
which became important means for modern analysis. These requirements might appear sophisticated,
but after completing all preparations, daily requirements become simple relatively.
In order to ensure the efficiency and easiness of work carried out in laboratories,
all tools and substances should be made available, as if one a test needs a specific number of chemicals,
missing one of them can hinder the completion of analysis procedure. Therefore, maintenance and repair
works and availability of chemicals and spare parts should be made vital. Also,
it's important to consider a flexible budgeting systems as much as possible to arrange for matters
that cannot be delayed bye the slow circulations of governmental routine works, such as providing spare parts,
repairs and daily expenditure. Thus, providing funds for urgent matters is very crucial to smooth laboratories works.
Work efficiency and competence and technical references should be provided to the laboratory technicians and inspectors.
Therefore, it's considered important to establish an interior technical library to keep up-to-date references
on food quality and safety control and related sciences such as microbiology.
In addition, references should be made available about the new methodology in chemical, microbiological,
physical appearance and natural tests beside national, regional and international food legislations and specifications,
and a full set of international examination and analysis techniques.
The library should also include training curricula and devices.
In order to guarantee the identity and similarity of analysis results,
and therefore avoid overloads of unnecessary work and waste of time and expenditure, there should be a descriptive or indexed manual
illustrating analysis approaches,
with interpretation to any findings according to the executive drafts of law.
Any intended new laboratory should be located in the midst of premised in order to facilitate
the incoming and outgoing of samples and laboratory results. The layout and space are also important
and should be flexible for current and future expands if needed, even if appeared unnecessary at the time
of establishment. There should be the necessary space for carrying out chemical, biological, microbiological,
physical and natural tests in addition to a book library, a lecture room and a storehouse. In order to improve
working circumstances and prevent hazards coming from smoking, eating or air conditioners inside the analysis areas,
a cafeteria should be made available, baring in mind not to spend all of the approbated budget on buildings.
The installations should include laboratory equipment and material, sophisticated apparatuses and tools,
in addition to electricity and water/gas supplies. In general, the laboratory should be well-installed to facilitate work..
C. Inspection services
In addition, food inspector should be well-trained to expose unsafe food
just by physical checking by sight or by smelling and touching or even tasting if necessary.
He also should be equipped with all the required tools for simple field check up and sample taking,
and to be able to collect proof in case of contravention.
In the case where the working place of the inspector is a local market, he should be able to
check all type of facilities in order to make sure that they are identical with health with
health specifications and follow safety and sanitary rules. He should be able to guide and encourage
the employees to willingly enforce the proper methods of handling food. Even when the inspector deals with
manufactures, handlers or food venders, he should be aware of the legislations and organizational drafts.
This can be achieved by polite talk. He should also introduce himself officially and present his
ID card if required, and indicated the purpose of his visit. In general, he should show respectful manners,
knowledge, understanding and impartiality to facilitate his job. He should recognize that inspecting food
is a legal duty that depends on the law of food and its integral drafts. The inspector's job therefore
isn't limited to simulating the police work by checking and confiscating food or even by giving proof in case
of contravention. This is because members of the inspection system cooperate together, seeking on target,
which is protecting the consumer by providing him with the healthy food. The inspector, in general, should
consider himself as a teacher and a guide but not a detective. Following this concept, the inspector
would help in raising health levels and improving awareness of the importance of food safety and quality.
The laboratory is concerned with checking and analyzing any sample that the inspector delivers as soon as
it is operationally possible. The inspector should be given a certificate of the result stating whether
the sample checked is fit for human consumption. This means that the sample should present the whole
quantity of consignment, otherwise it will not be of any indication but to itself.
The inspector should be provided with an explanatory standardized
manual detailing how to carry out the daily work. However, this manual should not replace training,
because only qualified inspectors are those who can apply the technical methods efficiently.
As a basic step towards giving the inspections services its worthy importance,
the number of inspectors should be in proportion with the volume of work, with regard to population
and the number of existing food stores, marketing centers and entrance and exit sports in the county.
The topographic nature of the country should also be taken into consideration.
Means of active mobility and sample-collecting tools should be put in their hand.
Finally, the health inspector should be aware of all local legal procedures.
He also should be capable of proving contraventions evidently and testifying in
court an inspection operation that he executed. The value of his testimony depends
on his ability to remember what he has seen or checked, and to express what he has found.
This is because the convincing witness is the one who testifies honestly and presents his claims comprehensibly.
Thus, he should recognize that the efficiency of his testimony is not in the data he gives evidence of,
as much as it is in the way he presents this data in convincing and understanble expressions.
These factors which might appear unimportant are the reason for taking testimony for granted.
They also include the appearance, his attitude when sitting, the way he answers questions,
the tone of his voice and his face expressions and gestures and such.
|
|
|
