Abou Faour: Food Safety Campaign Will Continue despite Threats

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour vowed on Wednesday that the food safety campaign which he had launched in late 2014 will continue, despite the hardships that his mission has faced and still faces.

He declared during a press conference: “We will not back down from our campaign. We have received threats, but we will continue our mission.”

“We should not neglect the people's safety and daily needs,” he declared.

“Our food safety campaign is aimed at protecting the people. We are not destroying spoiled food for our own pleasure,” he stated.

“We are aware that we are facing several challenges, but officials have no excuses to say that the people do not deserve their safety,” he added.

“This is the policy we are adopting at the Health Ministry and I hope that this approach will be implemented at all other ministries and the government,” said Abou Faour.

“Prime Minister Tammam Salam is among the leading figures who are keen on reform,” he stressed.

“The lack of reform will lead to collapse of the state,” he said.

“The absence of reform will lead to chaos and it seems that we are experiencing such a state in various fields, such as on the security level,” he remarked.

“We have succeeded in our food safety campaign and our reform approach has yet to reach all levels of the state, but it will get there,” the minister added.

He said that at first the Health Ministry inspectors used to be faced with hostility while they were carrying out their mission, but all establishments are now cooperating with them, eve if some are reluctant to do so.

Moreover, he said that the inspectors will continue their campaign against violating beauty and healthcare clinics, daycare centers, medical labs, and food establishments.

Abou Faour had launched in October a food safety campaign that has targeted several restaurants, slaughterhouses, and other establishments.

It has led to the closure of several establishments, while others have worked on improving their health conditions.

The campaign later widened to include beauty clinics, daycare centers, and other institutions that fall within the Health Ministry's jurisdiction.

M.T.

G.K.