Surveillance program launched to control food pathogens

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in collaboration with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), announced the launch of the monitoring and surveillance program to control food pollutants and pathogens during the initial stages of production and processing and throughout the food chain.

As part of the multisectoral one health approach, the program aims to monitor pathogens to prevent their transmission to humans through the intake of contaminated foods.

Wassan Abdulla Al-Baker, Director of Food Safety and Environmental Health, MoPH, said that the program has been developed to better understand human-to-animal diseases and identify any gaps to prevent the contamination of food products along the food chain.

She added that the program includes several key activities, including conducting surveys and surveys to collect the necessary information for monitoring and control, which will provide scientific data to assess risks and formulate food control strategies in the State of Qatar.

Al-Baker noted that various workshops and training programs will be organized in the field of biosecurity, cleaning and disinfection procedures and monitoring of critical control points in the abattoirs, as well as assisting in the development of food safety risk management plans and detailed corrective plans in local farms and following up their procedures.