FAO to help Bangladesh develop food safety indicators

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has taken a new initiative that will support the Bangladesh government to develop the country's first set of national food safety indicators.

The indicators will play an important part in improving food safety, which is a priority of the government, said a press release.

For this purpose, the FAO organised a workshop titled "Developing National Food Safety Indicators for Priority Identification and Proposal Formulation" on Thursday. 

At the programme, experts expressed their opinions on developing the food safety indicators for Bangladesh.

John Taylor, acting interim FAO representative in Bangladesh, said the FAO was fully committed to helping the government achieve its ambition of improving food safety for the people of Bangladesh.

"Ensuring food safety is a public health priority and an essential step to achieving food security. Effective food safety and quality control systems are key not only to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of people, but also to fostering economic development and improving livelihoods by promoting access to domestic, regional, and international markets," he said.

How to measure food safety towards strengthened national food control systems has been a key discussion in the Asia and the Pacific region. International guidelines and standards recommend that countries establish food safety indicators as part of an effective national food control system.

In view of this, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has developed a set of 40 regional food safety indicators.

Secretary of the Ministry of Food Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum said, "We need a food safety indicator, because we need to indicate our situation."