Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus is promoting the creation of a National Food Safety Authority to coordinate and supervise official controls by services and laboratories and to draft a unified national strategy for food safety and hygiene across the food chain, Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides said on Monday.
World Food Safety Day message
Marking World Food Safety Day, celebrated on June 7, Charalambides said the occasion serves as a reminder that access to safe and quality food is not only a basic prerequisite for public health but also a fundamental right of every person.
He said food safety is at the core of health prevention and protection and is directly linked to quality of life, public well-being, consumer confidence and the sustainable development of society.
Charalambides said safe food is everyone’s right and everyone’s responsibility.
Focus on solutions
Referring to this year’s World Food Safety Day slogan, From Burden to Solutions, Safe Food Everywhere, the minister said it calls for moving beyond identifying problems and focusing on implementing specific and effective solutions.
He said scientific data forms the basis for developing targeted policies, managing risks effectively and making informed decisions with the protection of public health in mind.
According to Charalambides, every solution for safe food begins with early identification of the problem and proper risk assessment.
Role of scientific data
Charalambides said that reliable scientific data underpins every documented decision aimed at consumer protection.
In this context, he said the general laboratory of the health ministry is the main pillar in producing this data, providing scientific documentation and offering specialised support to the authorities.
