By Olimatou Coker
The Gambia Standards Bureau recently embarked on a five-day tour to the five regions in the country to share information about the role of the bureau with the members of the technical advisory committees in each of the regions.
Speaking in an interview, Bai Doudou Jallow, the director of standardization division at the bureau, said they had series of meetings in all the regions plus separate engagements with a group of food processors.
“We know that the membership of the technical advisory has been changed. The Governors are new and some of the members of the committee are also new. So for that being the case, we have decided to go and share with them a lot of information on the role and responsibilities of the bureau. More, to talk about the importance and benefits of the Standards Bureau,” he said.
He said it is the first time they met other food processors in the regions.
He added that they also had a discussion on the implementation of the food hygiene, packaging and labeling of foods.
“Because we think these three standards are important in the work of the food processors. Whatever kind of food you produce you must follow hygienic practices. At the end of processing also food processors must do proper packaging and labelling of their products. This is why we had this with the food processors and we sensitized them on the composition of these three standards,” he said.
He said the tour was among the activities marking World Standards Day which is observed 24 October yearly.
He urged the public to watch out for the quality of products they buy from markets, shops, supermarkets or streets and to always check for expiry dates.
He advised them to report anything they are not comfortable with to the Bureau.
