The current brouhaha regarding food safety is damaging the industry and may herald its economic death

The Minister of the Industry, Dr. Hussein Hajj Hassan called for a Press Conference yesterday during which he discussed the issue of food safety within the food industry in Lebanon as well as review the implications of the present food safety campaign kicked off by the current Minister of Public Health a month ago.  Hajj Hassan noted that the proprietors of some factories intend to either close or move to other countries.  This, according to the Minister, poses grave concern regarding the situation of thousands of families whose members work in this sector.  Hajj Hassan called on the media to act responsibly in dealing with this matter.  Hajj Hassan also noted that although a number of infarctions unveiled were indeed true, yet, when the institutions in question arranged their situations, they were not treated fairly.  He added that there are 20 factories which have been granted the ISO 22000 certificate whilst 70 others are in pipeline.  Hajj Hassan also pointed out to the characteristics of the Lebanese food industry which exports USD 400 million yearly with only 1% products being returned.  He concluded that the food sector employs some 50,000 workers and constitutes 4% of the country GDP.

Source: Al-Nahar, Al-Diyar, Al-Akhbar 16 December 2014