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Ajman to ensure safe water for residents

AJMAN — The Ajman Municipality is in the process of introducing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system to ensure safety of drinking water and food by controlling the line of production and manufacturing in the emirate, according to Dr. Mohammed Attia, Acting Director of Health Directorate at the Municipality.

He said that the municipality is organising a lecture to educate the officials of food factories about the new system being introduced in tune with the vision of the UAE General Secretariat of the Municipalities which has instructed the civic authorities in the country to implement the HACCP system.

Dr Attia explained HACCP is a production control system for the food industry. It is a process that identifies where potential contamination can occur (the critical control points or CCPs) and strictly manages and monitors these points as a way of ensuring the process is in control and that the safest product possible is being produced. HACCP is designed to prevent rather than catch potential hazards.

He said the municipality's objective is to ensure that the food market is providing products that meet consumer demand. Consumers want safe food, the industry is using various types of processing and packaging technologies which might some time lead to food contamination. The introduction of new pathogenic bacteria is a constant threat. Also, consumers have heard the growing number of media reports about unsafe meat and poultry in supermarket cases. They have become more knowledgeable about the outdated inspection programme still in place. The "sight-smell-touch" type of inspection is not sufficient for today's customer.

He said all these factors have contributed to the move towards introducing HACCP in water and industry. HACCP has a proven track record for identifying and preventing contamination. Simply put, HACCP combines common sense with science to ensure safer food production.

• UAE