“Future plans in this area include the development of analytical ways to make sure that the animal has been slaughtered according to the Islamic method,” al-Baker told Qatar News Agency (QNA) in an interview
According to her, all human food entering Qatar through various border crossings are subjected to strict control and inspection and therefore the probability of any item that is unfit for human consumption reaching the public does not exceed 0.01%. “This is one of the best global records.”
The Ministry of Public Health has more than 80 inspectors who are working round the clock at the border posts to ensure the highest level of safety for food imported from abroad. The Food Safety and Environmental Health department comes under the ministry.
In 2016, about 3,000 tonnes of food items were rejected and not allowed to enter the country because of non-compliance with the GCC standards, she said.
One of the new procedures introduced at the Central Food Laboratory includes checking the presence of any drug residue in a food product. The lab will also adopt new procedures to identify the presence of unknown compounds in food products.
She said the lab, ranked among the best 15 such facilities in the world, conducts around 350,000 tests annually on about 22,000 samples. Its results are accepted by the most competent international centres.
One of the most significant recent scientific achievements of the laboratory was publishing a research paper in the Drug Testing and Analysis journal on finding the residues of 120 pesticides in cucumbers and apples.
The official said the Joint Human Food Control Committee accepted on December 14, 2016 a proposal to allow the private sector to operate laboratories for human food testing in Qatar.
She also said an integrated electronic network was being set up to connect all stakeholders, including the Customs department, which will help in the clearance process of food items. Foreign countries have also been requested to nominate liaison officers to interact with Qatari authorities in the field of food safety.
Moreover, she said specialists from the department are currently engaged in three Arab initiatives to develop a unified system for food safety, which will help facilitate early warning, issuing unified certificates for export and risk assessment at the Arab level.
Al-Baker said imported food is regulated according to the provisions of Law No 8 of 1990 as amended by Law No 4 of 2014, which gives the Ministry of Public Health the direct responsibility to implement the law based on GCC technical regulations and standards.
The department is also responsible for monitoring environmental health issues such as air pollution. Besides, it is in charge of ensuring compliance by kitchens in workers' housing facilities, canteens, desalination plants, reservoirs and water distribution networks.
The Water Quality Monitoring Unit also monitors the water used in manufacturing different food items such as ice cream, dairy products, juices and soda.