Retailers boost food safety drive in Asia

Retailers boost food safety drive in Asia

SINGAPORE (AFP): Multinational retailers setting up shop in
Asia are demanding premium food from local suppliers and
improving hygiene and quality standards in the region, food
safety specialists said Thursday.

"These retailers are one of the drivers of change," said
Adrian Polhill, global food product manager of Swiss-based SGS
Food Services.

"As they need to protect their reputations and ensure that
their food is safe, they are telling local food producers that
they must comply with a framework of recognized safety
standards."

A conference on Asian food and beverages had earlier been told
that some food suppliers were taking short cuts because of
consumer pressure to keep costs down.

But Polhill told AFP that the retail industry was intent on
raising food safety awareness.

The buying power of retailers, who generate close to 40
percent of the food industry's revenue, makes them a major
influence in the food supply chain, he said.

As retailers like Britain's Tesco and French-based Carrefour
enter markets in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and other Asian
cities, they are importing expertise like food safety training
and supply quality systems.

The advances are part of a growing global awareness of food
safety since public health scares such as mad cow disease in
Europe and avian influenza in Hong Kong, Polhill told the forum
of food retailers and suppliers.

Recent outbreaks of mad cow and foot and mouth diseases led to
the killing of thousands of animals in Britain and Europe, while
more than one million chickens, pigeons and quail were killed in
Hong Kong following an outbreak of avian or bird flu.

Recommendations on food safety measures coming from the forum
will be presented at the first Global Food Safety Conference in
Geneva.

The September conference aims to develop global food safety
standards and an early warning system for retailers and their
suppliers.