OCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
ALOUN N'DOMBET Assamba, Minister of Industry and Tourism, has pointed to the need for greater attention to be paid to food safety and hygiene in the service industry.
Mrs. N'dombet Assamba was speaking at the official opening of the Caribbean Food Safety conference last Thursday at the Jamaica Grande Hotel, in Ocho Rios, St. Ann. The two-day conference is organised by the Food Health Bureau (FHB), under the theme "Exploring 21st Century Solutions in Food Safety for the Travel and Tourism Industry".
Part of the first International Food Safety Conference, the function has attracted visitors from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and St. Lucia, as well as the United States of America and England.
The Minister congratulated FHB for the timely conference that would help to ensure that the tourism product remained competitive and was of a high standard. She said that there has been growing concerns for consumers, health professionals, food safety experts and the media about the various illnesses caused by food poisoning and other food associated problems, especially in the travel and tourism sectors.
Mrs. Assamba observed that the tourism landscape had changed dramatically, with consumers demanding more and paying greater attention to detail. She said it was important therefore, that food safety be discussed at an international level where all perspectives could be presented.
She noted that in Jamaica, "systems have been put in place to ensure that health, safety and security standards are maintained in the tourism industry through guidelines and checklists, food safety, new public health regulations, and a HIV/AIDS policy."
In addition, Government had put a $5 million grant assistance programme in place to assist small hotels to upgrade health, safety and security facilities.
And, to ensure that standards were maintained at the local level, the Minister said it was important to have in place, objectives, sensitisation exercises and collaborative efforts to build long-term partnerships with tour operators and consumers, to anticipate and resolve problems.
At the national level, she said Jamaica needed to ensure that there was a plan for safety and hygiene, and more focus given to record keeping by suppliers to ensure accountability.
