An-Najah Professor Participates in the Mandatory Technical Regulations Workshops for Food and its Safety Standards
Dr. Wafa’a Minawi from the Analysis, Poison Control and Calibration Centre (APCC), and a representative of An-Najah National University’s Laboratories at the Palestinian Standards Institution (PSI) had participated in a series of the PSI workshops, under the patronage of their excellencies; the Minister of National Economy and the Minister of Health, and with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) support, during the period November 8th – December 4th, 2017.
The workshops shed light on the requirements of the mandatory technical regulations – recently released by PSI – for food and its safety standards most important of which were the Requirements of Mandatory Technical Regulations concerning Plastic Articles intended to come into contact with food, the Mandatory Technical Regulations of Flavourings (71-2017) and the Requirements of Mandatory Technical Regulations concerning the Microbiological Criteria for foods (72-2017).
The workshops also described an overview of the mandatory technical regulations, a detailed explanation of the regulations concerning the standards relating to foodstuffs, their safety and intended materials to come into contact with food and the basics of their Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). The annexes related to the above mentioned regulations were also explained.
These workshops came out with several recommendations, most important of which were the necessity of twinning the analytical work and documenting future cooperation and partnership between the PSI, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Palestinian Universities and working on establishing a joint Database between the concerned parties; to be used in the determination of the food additives quantities. So, the researchers may get benefit in their studies and the database may contribute in developing the qualitative services being provided to the local manufacturers.
Dr. Minawi emphasized the leading role of (APCC) in the field of food testing, noting that An-Najah National University possesses advanced equipment such as the various chromatographic devices. Nowadays, the centre uses the (GC-MS) device for testing pesticides as well as materials of similar nature. Dr. Minawi also confirmed that the university provides qualified cadres with a high level of training and experience in this field.
