The World Food Safety Day (WFSD) marked every June 7 is intended to draw attention and inspire actions to help prevent, detect and manage food-borne risks, contributing to food safety, human health, and sustainable development. This year’s theme ‘Safer Food, Better Health’ couldn’t have been more appropriate in drawing attention to the current national food security and safety issues. Jean Hazoume, vice president of quality, Crown Flour Mill, speaks with Josephine Okojie on the significance of the day. (Excerpt)
Is Nigeria doing enough in the area of food safety; if not, what are the areas in the country that can do more?
Effective communication to increase awareness, and increase the importance of the value of food safety cannot be overemphasized. We care for our planet and our people, and we have been supporting activities to grow sustainably and help our customers to unlock value for their markets. We recently got a Presidential recognition for robust economic contribution to reinforcing productivity consciousness, excellence in production, and leadership in key areas of the economy. There is always room for global teams to meet, exchange ideas, and brainstorm on the best way forward. What is decided globally can also be added to local demand and specific needs to make the system more robust. We are already doing a lot, and stakeholder engagement is key to driving change.
The term food safety isn’t just another catchphrase being thrown around by food manufacturers, regulators, and other industry stakeholders. It is something very serious. In lane man language, could you please tell us, what exactly is food safety?
It simply means producing or processing food that is safe to eat, and safe for human consumption. Safe food is fundamental to promoting good health and well-being. It is only when food is safely produced and consumed, that the human body can benefit from its nutritional value.
Drawing from what you just said, food safety shouldn’t be solely the responsibility of the big food manufacturers and the government. The smaller food packing cottage businesses making plantain & potato chips, roasted cashew nuts, zobo, and buns, among others too should uphold the highest possible food safety standards. How can we as a nation ensure food safety at that sort of level?
In this aspect, strict regulatory compliance should be managed with a monitoring system. We need to create more awareness among SMEs during product registration, manufacturing, product testing… and digital media to ensure everyone is involved. The regulators should consistently schedule training and engagement programs for this group to ensure consistency of the standards for all food vendors.
What would you say is the role of the consuming public in food safety standards?
To ensure it advocates for a high level of protection of human health and interest by patronizing and supporting only businesses that are committed to food and consumer safety. The will of the consuming public will thereby guide the production and quality teams in implementing preventive measures and corrective actions to be taken in all stages of harvesting, shipment, production, storage, and distribution of food products.
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Olam Agri, the parent company of CFM, plays heavily in the Nigerian agriculture sector and food processing industry. How important is food safety and quality to Olam but more specifically, CFM, and what are some of the food safety actions, procedures, and preventive approaches adopted in CFM?
Food safety and quality are of great importance to Olam; Hence, it is mandatory to have all plants certified FSSC 22000 in line with GSFI standards. We have already certified most of our plants and will be completed in 2022. Best practices are observed during the handling, processing, and distribution of food to ensure that contaminants that can cause foodborne illnesses are not present. We have already implemented all HACCP programs on all our sites as well as Pre-requisite programs which are rigorously followed.
The consuming public of today is more enlightened than some years ago. For starters, they are more conscious of their health and wellbeing. What would you say is behind this trend and what is the role of the consuming public in food safety?
You are right, today’s consumers and particularly this present generation are more health-conscious than their older counterparts. In my opinion, this presents a huge opportunity for food manufacturers to exploit this consciousness by manufacturing food products to meet consumer preferences. Food safety plays a very important role in our day-to-day life and should be the responsibility of every one of us. Contaminated food can adversely affect the health of people and sadly there have been rising cases of illnesses and deaths as a consequence of food-borne diseases, which calls for wider action. This I believe is where public-private collaborations are imperative. Many global agencies, including the World Bank, and several private food processing firms are helping to address the food security and safety challenges by providing support resources at the production and supply levels to ensure the global population is well-nourished. Nowadays, with the rapid development and diversification of digital and social media, a lot more people now have access to information and are more conscious about health. Information is passed along at light speed and over wider geography at a push of a button. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), food-related diseases affect nearly one in every 10 people worldwide, yearly, accounting for over 420 000 deaths and there are over 200 diseases associated with food. From this data on unsafe food in the world, it becomes very important for suppliers, processors, and consumers to gather information about the best food safety practices. Consumers should make wise food choices and know how to handle food safely.
CFM operates an automated processing and manufacturing line in its ultramodern production facilities across the country. How efficient are those automated processes to ensure the homogeneity, safety, and quality of your products?
All our pasta, semolina, and flour milling lines are fully automated and PLC-controlled. These processes are efficient and food safety elements are in-built to handle specific problems concerning physical, chemical, or microbiological risks.
Our engineering and manufacturing teams operate regular controls and have access to online reports which helps to monitor system efficiency.
Our quality control and assurance processes are also integrated into Systems Applications and Products in data processing (SAP), which forces the system to operate right the first time. What I mean by this is, at CFM, food safety doesn’t start at our production lines, it starts from our raw material procurement through to the manufacturing processes, storage and distribution and right up to when it gets to the consumer.
We ensure that all legal and regulatory requirements are met at all levels, with rigorous procedures followed in line with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards to optimize best practices. Our factories are also certified to be compliant with international standards, and preventive & corrective actions are taken as when due. In a nutshell, we pay maximum attention to where food safety and quality are concerned.
For food processing businesses, traceability is vitally important for food safety as well as operational efficiency, it should extend to being able to identify the source of all food inputs such as raw materials, additives, other ingredients, and packaging. Exactly how far do you take traceability at CFM?
In the food processing business, traceability is a vital part of operational efficiency. This entails identifying the source of all food inputs such as raw materials, additives, other ingredients, and packaging. CFM’s operations underscore the importance of traceability for the production of safe food products. We have an effective 2-way traceability management system in place, back and forth. All Raw material, process steps, packaging, warehousing, and distribution are adequately maintained from origin to final customers. As I said earlier, our system is monitored by our SAP-integrated system, which is fully automated.
The theme for this year’s WFSD is “Safer Food, Better Health.” How apt would you say this theme is for Nigeria, especially from a standpoint of CFM which prioritizes food safety and nutrition?
Safer food does imply better health, so the theme isn’t just apt for Nigeria; it is apt for every country, both the developed and the developing nations. Recent global health events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic have shown us that the world truly is a global village. Health is the most critical of all human endeavours and that is why CFM prioritizes food safety and nutrition. Food quality measures by CFM include the deployment of cutting-edge vitamin premix facilities to boost balanced nutrition while delivering safe food products that meet the regulatory requirement of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for the local market. Internally, the management and staff understand and embody the fundamental tenets of food safety practices; it is engrained in our DNA. It goes from top-down to bottom-up. We recently launched new products in pasta and flour with vitamins and minerals, which are a good source of micronutrients. Similarly, our recent certification of FSSC 22,000 for food safety has set the momentum on our continuous improvement journey.
