Saturday, December 07, 2024

Sahiwal, May 18, 2016

Background of the workshop

Concerns over food safety and quality are increasing worldwide. They are priority issues for governments, food producers, industry, traders and consumers alike. The burden of food borne diseases is significant in all parts of the world specially developing countries like Pakistan. This has resulted in a decrease in consumer confidence in some parts of the food supply. It has also had severe economic impact on farmers and food industry in Pakistan. The effects of these concerns have signaled a strong need to strengthen the food safety and quality systems in Pakistan in order to reduce food borne diseases. Following the vision of Prof. Dr Abdul Waheed, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Sahiwal took the initiative to educate and aware the stakeholders of food chains by organizing a technical workshop on “Food Safety & Hygiene”.

Participants

More than 100 participants were present in the workshop. The participants include food analysts, production and quality mangers, researchers, academicians and technical managers of hotels. Following are the main participant Universities and organizations;

  • Islamia University Bahawalpur (15 participants who travelled all the way from BWP)
  • GCUF
  • Engro Foods
  • Government College of Technology, SWL
  • J.P. Foods Sahiwal
  • Montgomery foods
  • COMSATS Sahiwal
  • Bakers land SWL
  • National Alliance for Safe Food
  • University of Lahore
  • BBQ Tonight etc.
  • Opening ceremony

    Opening ceremony of technical workshop on Food Safety & Hygiene was held on 18th May 2016 at 10:30 AM in the CS-4 of CIIT Sahiwal. Participants welcomed the Chief Guests Chief Engineer Dr. Zahir-ud-Din and Prof. Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zafar in the workshop venue. Guest of honor of the event were Mr. Rana Muzaafar, owner J.P. Foods Sahiwal and Rana Awais Khan, president National Alliance for Safe Food (NAFS). The ceremony was started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by Naat.

    Welcome Address

    Dr. Hassan Riaz, coordinator, Department of Biosciences welcomed the participants and guests. He focused the importance of food safety and hygiene for Pakistan and enforced that awareness regarding food safety and quality issues must be provided to all stakeholders of the food chain. He also appreciated the efforts of Dr. Abrar Hussain to organize the event.

    Chief Guest Address

    Afterwards, Director Student Affairs Chief Engineer, Dr. Zahir-ud-Din was invited for speech. He welcomed Mr. Muzaffar from J.P. Foods and other participants. During his speech he also highlighted the importance of ISO-9001for improvement of food quality and safety. He said “The demand on ISO certified foodstuffs, which are of good quality, safe for consumption and not constituting any health risks, is also maintained and gaining strength continuously on part of the consumers”. Finally, he acknowledged the efforts of Dr. Abrar Hussain on organizing technical workshop.Prof. Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zafar also appreciated the event activities and told about the improvement of health status of the population through promoting food safety and hygiene.

    1st Technical Session

    Mr. Rana Awais, President National Alliance for Safe Food was given the floor to start technical session on Food Quality and Hygiene. During the first session, he talked about the current scenario of food quality and safety in Pakistan. Further, he discussed the processes to reduce the incidence of food infections and food poisoning, promoting education and training, and improving authority activities under legal control. To start the long-term activity program, the elaboration of a comprehensive national food safety program based on the ‘from farm to table’ principle was also come under the discussion.

    Refreshment Break & Discussion

    After 1st technical session refreshment were given to all the participants. Question & answer session was also continued during the refreshment break.

    2nd Technical Session

    During 2nd session of the workshop association of food safety with nutrition was discussed. Ensuring the protection of public health is not restricted to the chemical, biological and physical safety of food. Mr Rana Awais told that we should also aim at ensuring the intake of essential nutrients while limiting the intake of other elements in order to avoid adverse health effects, including anti-nutritional effects. Scientific information has shown that an adequate and varied diet is a very important factor in maintaining good health and overall well-being.

    Concluding Remarks

    Dr Abrar Hussain has given the concluding remarks on the workshop. He also thanked the participants and Rana Awais Khan for his valuable suggestions and discussions. Further, he enforced that nutritional status of foods also need to be addressed in order to avoid malnutrition in Pakistan. Rana Muzaffar from J.P. Foods also gave his remarks on food safety and quality in the last session of workshop.

    Presentation of Shields to Guests and Organizers

    The Workshop was concluded by distribution of shields to the distinguished speaker, guests and organizers of the event. Afterwards, the guests and participants visited the Montgomery Museum at CIIT, Sahiwal.

    CUI Sahiwal at a Glance

    • Campus Established: 2006
    • Total Area: 36 Acres
    • Total no. of faculty: 214
    • Total no. of PhD faculty: 66
    • Total Programs Offered: 16
    • Enrolled Students: 3671
    • Passed Out Students: 8027

    For more facts, please click here

    About Us

    COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal campus is situated half-way between Lahore and Multan on COMSATS Road off G.T Road Sahiwal, was formally inaugurated on September 23, 2006. The campus is purpose built and is spread over area of 36 acres on land...

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