KENYA – The inaugural regional Food Safety Summit Africa Conference & Expo, due to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in May 2015, has been announced.
According to the organizers of the first ever food safety summit targeting sub Sahara African countries, FoodWorld Media, publishers of leading trade publications Food Business Africa and Agri-Business Africa, Africa, food safety remains one of the industry’s biggest draw-backs as the industry evolves in the Continent.
“Poor quality due to lack of knowledge and patchy enforcement of the law continues to plague African countries as they struggle to meet stringent quality requirements by their key trading partners in Europe and the US market”, note the organizers.
The recent case of the European Union warning several African countries including Kenya about their products failing to meet new EU regulations on pesticide residues comes to mind.
“The lack of a food safety culture in the industry and the region has affected Africa’s ability to trade with itself, with its key export markets and even more critical, the health of its own population due to lack of systems to enforce the quality of locally consumed food and agro produce”, add the organizers.
The Food Safety Summit Africa Conference & Expo is a pioneer industry event that will bring international and regional service and product providers together with policy makers, regulatory agencies, enterpreneurs, managers and professionals in the food, feed and agro industries from across Africa.
The two-day conference will focus on current and emerging food safety issues in Africa. It is slated for May 14-15 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The forum will take the farm-to-table approach – covering the entire value chain from production, handling and storage, processing, retail and distribution of food, beverages and agricultural produce.
The forum is meant to be a place where real solutions to Africa’s problems shall be discussed and a way forward formulated.
Some of the key topics slated for discussion include chemical and pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables, GMOs, sanitation and cleaning, food safety systems, standards development and harmonization, aflatoxins management among many other topics.
The Food Safety Summit Conference & Expo provides an excellent opportunity to the suppliers of products and services to the hotel, food, feed and agro industries in Africa to showcase their innovations and services.
Such services include equipment and packaging solutions, laboratory systems and services, sanitation and cleaning, software and other products and services that are geared towards eliminating or managing food safety in the continent.
According to the organizers, sponsorship opportunities also exist, providing the prospective sponsors with the opportunity to show their industry leadership, plus showcase their products and services in other forums during the event.
For more information about Food Safety Summit Africa, please log onto the website: www.FoodSafetySummitAfrica.com
