KUWAIT: Starting from the beginning of this year checking and inspecting on restaurants, cafes, and other institutions dealing with food became part of the responsibilities of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN).

PAFN is an
internationally recognized authority for food and nutrition safety. "It is
an independent body that aims to protect consumers' health through inspecting
the produced or distributed food in the local market to make sure it applies to
the health and safety criteria. This should also spread awareness to eliminate
malnutrition diseases and protect general health," Mohammed Jragh, Public
Relations Director at PAFN told the Kuwait Times.   

More duties were
transferred to PAFN gradually. "PAFN was established in 2015, and from
that time, more fields are being added to our responsibility from both the
Ministry of Health and Kuwait Municipality," he stated. "These
include the slaughterhouses, food products, and others."

School canteens

The authority is
also in charge of inspecting the canteens at schools. Recently, PAFN decided to
strictly inspect the canteens to make sure that they only sell healthy
products, and banned certain products from being sold to students.

"We will be
dealing with the Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company that will supply the
canteens with special products," noted Wajd Al-Othman, Nutritionist at
PAFN. "We have chosen this company as they modified their products
according to our criteria. For instance, the products will be free of
hydrogenated fats.

Also, their bread
contains less salt than other bakeries. All their products are produced through
an automated process, which is very important for students' safety. Furthermore
we demanded producing special sizes that are suitable for young students, as
they usually do not finish the regular size of sandwich and other items. These
products will be specially made to the school canteens and will not be
available in the market."  

"From 2016
we made an agreement with some local companies that produce juices and dairy to
decrease added sugar to juices and nectars," she further said. "We
appreciate their cooperation in dropping the sugar level to the possible limit
that will not affect the taste. Only these juices will be available in the
canteens. Also, drinks other than juices and nectars were already banned in
canteens according to the GCC list For Schools Cantinas Food Criteria."

"We aim to
improve the nutrition and health condition of the students to treat
malnutrition and avoid it. We have bigger plans, and this is the first step. We
started with the elementary schools first, as this is the basic. This way the
student will get used to healthy nutrition and preserve it in later stages. It
is more difficult at the intermediate stage if they were not used to it from a
younger age," she pointed out. 

Parents should be
aware of the healthy nutrition of their children. "They should know the
harm of unhealthy food, which they should not give to their children. Our role
is limited to inspecting the sold items at the canteens, and we are not in
charge of checking what the children brought with them from home," Othman
concluded.

24-hour shifts

PAFN inspectors
go on regular inspections on daily bases. "Our inspectors work on 24-hour
shifts. Then they also go on group inspections twice a week depending on the
seasons, which may increase in Ramadan or Eid for instance. We inspect all the
institutions dealing with food," said Abdullah Abbas, Head of the
Inspection Department for Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate.

Inspection of
school canteens is also part of their checkups. "We inspect the factories
and importing companies before they sign an agreement with the Ministry of
Education. If their products meet the criteria then we give the approval to
deal with them. Then after the schools start, our department form committees in
each governorate to inspect the school canteens," he also said.

"If any
inspector had doubts about a certain food product, we will take a sample to
check it at the laboratory. Also, we take random samples of the special
products of the factory that will supply the school canteens. Doubts arise if
the lighting or the ventilation system was not good, which may affect the food
products," added Abbas.

Any food product
cannot enter the country without being checked. "This checking process
belongs to the Imported Food Department. The inspectors first do visual
examination to the products, then they take a sample that is checked at the
laboratory. The shipment should be held until the results come from the
laboratory saying it is safe," he noted.

According to him,
tests on a certain brand of gum that an account on social media claimed that it
includes pork came negative, despite the fact that the producer at the country
of origin stated on his social media account that all the products of his
factory include pork. Abbas doesn't know if there is shortage in the Kuwaiti
laboratories that make them unable to detect all traces of pork gelatin, but he
assured that all gums were withdrawn from the local market due to the statement
of the producer.

By Nawara
Fattahova