IS it time for Malaysia to have a central food safety authority?

Definitely, says Associate Professor Dr Ayub Mohd Yatim, head of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Food Cleanliness and Safety Training Academy.

"At present, we have many different agencies handling food issues -- Health Ministry, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, Customs... sometimes, there is duplication of work," he says.

And in some ways, food safety could become a secondary concern if it is administered by one body or ministry that overlooks other more pressing concerns.

Citing the Health Ministry as an example, Ayub says because the role of the ministry is to "make sure that people are well", which translates into giving people access to affordable and quick medical treatment, food safety becomes a "small concern under a big ministry".
"It's high time we had a central authority because it will simply be more organised. It will be one agency with well-trained and dedicated staff to handle all aspects of the food chain, focusing on the aim to ensure that our food is safe."

There needs to be a central food clearing agency that looks into the issue of food safety in toto, from farm to table, says Consumers Association of Penang president S.M. Mohamed Idris.

"It is not good enough to react only when there is a major crisis," Idris says.

Ratna Devi Nadarajan, chief executive of the Malaysian Association of Standards Users, feels that when a farm is under the jurisdiction of one agency, and factory-to-table under a different agency, it's difficult to have an efficient and effective food-safety mechanism.

"And current mechanisms do not allow policymakers to anticipate food-safety requirements."

Having a central agency would help, she says, but only if consumers all over the country have easy access to make enquiries, report incidents and lodge complaints.

She claims, at present, there isn't even a dedicated hotline which handles food-safety issues in the Health Ministry.

"It is important for this central authority to have a nationwide emergency response mechanism, which reacts to massive problems quickly and effectively and operates in a transparent manner."

Today, with food safety topping consumer concern worldwide, not least because of the recent scandal of melamine-tainted milk from China, more and more countries are centralising government efforts to tackle the complex and often dynamic issue of food safety.



The two best examples are the New Zealand and American food safety agencies -- the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Both organisations take on risk assessment, risk management and risk communication that underline most food regulatory systems around the world.

Prior to July 2002, New Zea-land's system was just as fragmented as ours. Its Health Ministry administered the Food Act, which covers food sold on the domestic market, including imported food, while the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry oversaw other food-related legislation that were mostly aimed at primary production, processing and exports.

But that changed when the country, which exports more than 80 per cent of the food it produces, established the NZFSA and effectively combined the jurisdiction of the two.

Besides monitoring the safety of food supply from the farm to the dining table, it also identifies areas along the food chain where risks could be reduced via intervention,

It also alerts and informs the public of any food-safety problems as well as educates them on issues as wide ranging as keeping food safe and learning about bringing food in and out of the country, genetically modified foods, and to common food allergies and intolerance.

Biannually, it conducts a survey to gauge public perception towards food-safety issues to provide benchmarks for the organisation to better reach out to its target audience.

On the other hand, the FDA is a scientific, regulatory and public health agency -- not just for food but also for pharmaceutical, cosmetics, medical and electronic items.

Its task is to ensure these products are "honestly, accurately and informatively represented to the public".

Its jurisdiction includes most food products (other than meat and poultry); human and animal drugs; therapeutic agents of biological origin; medical devices; radiation-emitting products for consumer, medical, and occupational use; cosmetics; and animal feed.

The agency grew from a single chemist in the US Department of Agriculture in 1862 to a staff of some 9,100 people, comprising chemists, pharmacologists, physicians, microbiologists, veterinarians, pharmacists, lawyers and others.