World Food Safety Day 2021 – Hon. Audley Shaw

Codex Alimentarius:  is a collection of internationally adopted food standards and related texts presented in a uniform manner. These food standards and related texts aim at protecting consumers’ health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade.

I am pleased to join the National Codex Committee of Jamaica and the World in celebrating World Food Safety Day, 2021. The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce continues to play a critical role in regulating manufacturers and other suppliers of food to ensure that food is produced in a safe and hygienic way.

Brand Jamaica is very recognizable in our international community. It is therefore very important that our manufacturing companies produce high-quality export goods to protect Jamaica’s reputation for having among the best world-class food safety systems. Thankfully, The National Compliance and Regulatory Authority and other border regulatory agencies are ensuring that our manufacturers are adhering to food safety standards and are producing nutritionally safe food for consumption.

Today, I want to emphasize that food safety is critical to everyone. Consumers are deserving of receiving a properly labelled product that is free from contamination, does not result in foodborne disease and is nutritious. Manufacturers and food suppliers must adhere to good food safety practices.

Food is the most essential commodity and the rise of globalisation has connected markets and consumers more than ever. Jamaica is happy for this ease of access, but globalisation has grave consequences. Poor food practices in our factories, restaurants and other production facilities will ruin Jamaica’s reputation. Consumers are entitled to safe food.  Children deserve to have nutritious food. I implore all manufacturers and food suppliers to invest in good safe food practices. Continue to produce high quality food that is safe, sustainable and affordable.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for our food producers and suppliers to invest in robust and effective food safety practices. Consumers are paying greater attention to what they consume. Businesses must now seize this opportunity to become more compliant and competitive. Consumers all over the world want to have food of high quality that is affordable.

I want to close by noting, The Government of Jamaica’s role in regulating businesses is critical to ensuring that food is safe for consumption. Our inspectors and other compliant officers are working with our food providers so that consumers are protected from unsafe food. We all have an important role to play. Food safety is everybody’s business!

Happy World Food Safety Day 2021 Jamaica!