2005
The Food Control Section within the Ministry of Health is responsible for all issues related to food safety and food quality. The main aim is to guarantee that foods imported and prepared in the Kingdom are safe, wholesome and of high quality. This is achieved through :
- Inspection of all imported and exported foods, mainly through physical inspection and laboratory analysis.
- The use of national technical regulations and Codex standards, for shipments of food. Unfit foods are rejected and are either destroyed or returned to the country of origin.
- Inspection of domestic foods through random visits to food places to ensure that hygiene requirements are met and to ensure that these practices are healthy.
- Active surveillance of foods with samples of different foods withdrawn to assess their quality and safety. Control measures are directed towards high risk foods. Such surveys helped to direct inspection efforts as various high risk foods have been identified and proper control measures applied.
- Inspection of all new food places to make sure they meet health requirements; accordingly, these places are licensed to sell foods.
- The recent approval by the Bahrain National Committee for Standards that the Codex Standards for contaminants, additives and labelling- are accepted in Bahrain as equivalent to the National Regulations and Standards.
The Kingdom of Bahrain stresses the crucial importance of involving consumers and representatives of consumer associations in all food safety matters. As such, Bahrain involved the Consumer Protection Association which represents consumers, as well as traders and industrialists, in food safety matters. Furthermore, the Food Control Division holds regular seminars, workshops, and conferences on food safety with the participation of various social categories, in order to enable them to participate in taking sound health decisions.
More recently, a draft proposed standard for Bahraini sweets was elaborated in consultation with the following parties: the Consumer Protection Association, sweets manufacturers, the Consumer Protection Administration, the Standards Administration within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Public Health Laboratory. Also, a Consumer Protection Law was drafted and it is currently under study in the Parliament.
Information last updated - January 2007