The food safety expert symposium of the “Joint Efforts in Food Safety for Double Celebration” Activity Series held by Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) convened on 7 June. Representatives from China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and the food safety regulation authorities of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao were invited to engage in talks and discussions on issues such as the latest policies on food safety regulation, the impact of the development of information technology on food safety and food safety regulation of prepared food in the different regions, so as to promote the technical exchange and cooperation on food safety between the regions and the joint improvement of the level of food safety management.

Exploration of the impact of technology on food safety and regulation of prepared food

The food safety expert symposium was divided into the morning session and the afternoon session. A total of about 270 representatives from local associations, academic institutions, relevant trade associations, the six major leisure and resort enterprises and the hotel sector, relevant government departments and the food and beverage sector attended the symposium.

The morning session of the symposium started with a presentation by Zhu Lei, Director of Center for Research on Food Safety Standards of China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, in which she explained the establishment of national food safety standards and the current status of regulation and how food safety standards “protect the safety of every bite of food”. It was followed by an introduction by Zhou Lu, Director of the analytical and technical service divisions of Guangdong Institute of Food Inspection, on how to lead the prepared food industry towards high-quality development by strengthening food safety regulation during its high-speed development. Representatives from Department of Food Safety of IAM also announced the results of the targeted food safety surveillance on prepared food sold on the market in Macao at the symposium.

In the afternoon session of the symposium, Dr Jessica Wong, Head of Risk Communication Section of Centre for Food Safety of Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong, was invited to give an introduction to the food safety risk communication work of Hong Kong. In the same session, Wong Weng Man, Head of Division of Health Promotion of Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of the Health Bureau of Macao, introduced the “Healthy Restaurant” programme launched by the Bureau and explored how to use electronic commercial platforms to promote healthy eating. Representative from Department of Food Safety of IAM also introduced the most recently launched “Safe Food ─ Incentive Scheme for Hygiene Self-Inspection”, which facilitates the sector’s internal optimisation of food safety management.

Building exchange platform to promote regional communication of food safety information

As the food consumption market changes constantly, the production techniques also develops rapidly, posing opportunities and challenges for food safety regulation. IAM hopes that through organising this expert symposium, a food safety exchange platform will be built to promote the communication of food safety information between the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, so as to help them grasp the latest market and regulation trends and jointly improve food safety regulation standards.