Foodborne diseases continue to be a global public health problem with an estimated 600 million people falling ill annually. In return, international standards are becoming stricter which poses challenges to food trade. In light of the increasing burden of foodborne diseases, many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have upgraded their food laws and undertaken changes to the organizational structure of their regulatory institutions to maintain or expand international export activities, tighten control on local and imported products, and protect consumers’ health. However, until this date, the published information on the regional health burdens of foodborne diseases is very limited and it is not clear whether the recent changes will serve towards science-based and effective preventive functions and the adoption of the risk management approach. In this review, we summarize the recent food safety issues and the national food control systems of selected countries in the region although we were challenged with the scarcity of information. To this end, we examined the national food safety systems in the context of the five essential elements of the FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems. These five elements—food law and regulations; food control management; inspection services; laboratory services; food monitoring; and epidemiological data, information, education, communication, and training—constitute the building blocks of a national food control system, but could also serve as tools to assess the effectiveness of the systems.

Publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Understanding the routes of contamination of ready-to-eat vegetables in the Middle East journaltitle: Food Control articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.10.024 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Food loss and waste pose significant challenges in both industrial and agricultural food production sectors. In recent decades, their environmental and economic impacts have intensified due to increasing food demand, heightened production activities, and varying standards across the global supply chain. Specifically, the complexities surrounding the causes of food waste at the retail and household levels persist as a multifaceted issue, constituting a crucial topic in food policy. This is driven by various interplaying aspects, such as food security, safety, quality, and environmental sustainability, including greenhouse gas emissions from decaying food, water pollution from leaching, and the proliferation of landfills. Additionally, consumer concerns and financial losses exacerbate the urgency of addressing this issue. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight these complexities as a focal point of its discussion by the examination of interconnected causes of food waste and potential solutions and initiatives to reduce food waste occurring at these critical points in the food supply chain. Less attention has been paid to retail and foodservice than production and consumer sectors, and this review specifically focuses on these industries, where food waste is more important than food loss. This review also looks at examples in developing countries which have received less attention until now. We believe that because of the complexity of the process to reduce food waste across the food supply chain, and the many stakeholders involved, the goal of a 50% reduction by 2030 set by the United Nations will be difficult to achieve on time.

Accepted, unedited manuscript- Published on-line 22-July-2016 Pending copyediting, typesetting, and reviewing of proof, and publishing in its final form.he increased consumption of ready-to-eat salads outside homes as a result of a fast paced lifestyle, awareness on their nutritional attributes and enhanced processing technology is well documented. This study aimed to determine the microbiological quality of fresh-cut salads vegetables in small and medium sized foodservice establishments (SMEs) and to identify risk factors and handling practices through observational assessment in order to investigate if an association between microbiological quality and visual assessment (inspection) scores can be established. A total of 118 samples fresh-cut vegetable salads were collected from 50 inspected locations and analysed microbiologically, in addition to 49 swabs of knives and cutting boards. There was no statistically significant correlation between visual assessment scores and bacteriological counts on vegetables or cutting boards. Nonetheless, the consistent relationship between inspection ratings on cross-contamination and cleaning components and Listeria spp. levels was statistically significant. This study demonstrated that overall visual assessment scores would not directly reflect the safety of salad vegetables and that the significance of microbiological assessment should be considered in relation to individual inspection components. It is necessary to place effective control measures on cleaning standards and risk of cross-contamination to improve the microbiological safety of fresh salad vegetables in SMEsLebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) #10259

Food safety standards are a necessity to protect consumers’ health in today’s growing global food trade. A number of studies have suggested safety standards can interrupt trade, bringing financial and technical burdens on small as well as large agri-food producers in developing countries. Other examples have shown that economical extension, key intermediaries, and funded initiatives have substantially enhanced the capacities of growers in some countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to meet the food safety and quality requirements, and improve their access to international markets. These endeavors often compensate for the weak regulatory framework, but do not offer a sustainable solution. There is a big gap in the food safety level and control systems between countries in the MENA region and those in the developed nations. This certainly has implications for the safety of fresh produce and agricultural practices, which hinders any progress in their international food trade. To overcome the barriers of legal and private standards, food safety should be a national priority for sustainable agricultural development in the MENA countries. Local governments have a primary role in adopting the vision for developing and facilitating the implementation of their national Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards that are consistent with the international requirements and adapted to local policies and environment. Together, the public and private sector’s support are instrumental to deliver the skills and infrastructure needed for leveraging the safety and quality level of the agri-food chain.