Food Safety Knowledge for food Handlers

Food industry handler are part of the value chain who can play critical role in the safety of the food products. In some countries there are legal requirements for food safety knowledge of the food handlers while in others like Afghanistan there is no legal stipulation for food industries to train its staff. As per experience from the field, I think that it is very important to have at least basic knowledge of food safety. Countries like Afghanistan, must put some obligations on all food service facilities and food handlers in relation to the safe handling of food. In this case a food facility shall be deemed responsible for ensuring that all persons undertaking or supervising food handling have skills and knowledge in food safety and hygiene appropriate to the work they do.

There are a number of options to ensure that this obligation is met. These include:

·         Recruiting staff with formal industry based training qualifications

·         On the job’ training by other staff

·         Facilitating external training

·         In house training by other staff

·         Providing written food safety and food hygiene information

In addition, I believe that any food facility which has a food safety person will have positive outcomes.

As per the current food regulatory system in Afghanistan, raw food is controlled by Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock while processed food is controlled by Ministry of Public Health. Therefore, both of these organization must be responsible for meeting the requirements of the stipulated obligations in the draft food law. Both authorities may choose to delegate particular items to specific persons or positions within their organizational structure, such as the Animal Health Directorate or the Quality Control Lab Directorate.

It is recommended that employee successfully completes training to demonstrate satisfaction of the skills and knowledge requirements. Anyone who finishes the training must be issued a Statement of Attainment. While prior to this there is a need for the national competencies identified in food safety to be identified.
-Naim Khalid