South Africa’s metrology institute reports successful food safety conference

The National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) announced earlier this week that it had held its first Africa Food Safety Workshop during the first week of this month, in Pretoria. The event was attended by delegates form South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world. They represented academia, analytical regulatory food testing laboratories, governmental and non-governmental food programmes, and metrology institutes. The purpose of the encounter was to exchange ideas, provide training, and develop a strategy for the continent to establish food and animal feed monitoring and testing to international standards. This would both protect consumers from unsafe products and protect exports. There were presentations and debates on the methods and standards for analysis and control of various infections and contaminants, including mycotoxins, pesticide residues, and veterinary drugs. Also covered were food authenticity and traceability, food microbiology, the use of antimicrobials and the problem of resistance.