Smeda holds training programme on food security

The speakers while speaking at a training programme on food security organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) in collaboration with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have said that thousands of people die every year in Pakistan because of the unsafe food, which needs to be addressed by training the local SMEs on food safety standards.
The representatives of over 65 SMEs from sectors such as bakery, fast food restaurants, hotels, juice companies and food processors attended this programme. While speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad urged the SMEs of food sector to ensure application of the food standards in all of their venues including permanent or temporary kitchens and smaller food preparation area, such as restaurants, cafes, clubs, hotels, attractions, fast food restaurants, retail food outlets and event halls.
Provincial Chief Smeda Hassanien Javed assured the business community that Smeda will keep on delivering demand based capacity building services to the business community, and programmes of the similar nature will also be conducted in other cities of Punjab.
An expert on food safety Dr Muhammad Jahangir apprised the participants of the world's best food safety techniques to be applied in the food processing units as well as hospitality, commercial catering and retail venues meant for food storage, preparation, display and service. He gave a detailed presentation on types of food contaminants, mirco-organism, food borne illnesses, sanitary facilities, pest management and food hygiene control during food service process.
Smeda Chief Alamgir Chaudhry while commenting on food security issue said that the need of holding this workshop was to identify enforcement of food security standards by Punjab government, which had activated Punjab Food Authority to raid food outlets serving unsafe food.
In this scenario, the business units in hospitality and food processing units increasingly felt a need to upgrade their skills and systems to meet the regulatory requirements, he said. Therefore, Smeda has come forward to fill in this gap by holding training programmes in collaboration with the premier trade bodies like LCCI on food security standards and techniques, he added.