400 delegates attend food safety meet in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Participation was beyond expectation as people from all over the country from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, came to hear and learn about food safety.

Producers, suppliers, processors, service providers, business executives, planners and policy-makers from various government agencies and the rest of the stakeholders in the food supply chain converged to learn, exchange information and possibly do business on safe and quality food in the 1st Food Safety Conference in Cebu.

With the theme, “Promoting Food Safety from the Farm to the Fork,” the 1st OURFood Conference on Food Safety was held on June 16-18 with 400 delegates. More than 20 renowned speakers both local and international with various expertise in the food supply chain provided valuable information and techniques that stakeholders need to deliver safe and quality food for the consumers.

The conference, organized by AFOS-OURFood Project in cooperation with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was divided into two parts. First was the 2-day Technical Sessions on June 16-17 at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel. The technical session was comprised by a plenary on the topic, “Food Safety in the Value Chain” followed by 4 concurrent sessions on the topics: “Food Safety for MSMEs; Food Safety at Farm; Food Safety for Exporting Companies;  and, Food Safety in Food Service.”

The second part was the Market Encounter and Exhibition  held June 17-18 at Robinsons Galleria where 23 exhibitors from the food and related industries showcased various fresh and processed food products as well as food related merchandises, a miniature farm, cooking demonstrations and food tasting events. The exhibition was open to the public and was visited by at least a thousand viewers.

The conference culminated with the drafting of resolutions which the organizers shall be submitting to concerned government bodies for inclusion in the drafting of laws in the food industry.  (FREEMAN)