A new rapid alert system is set to be introduced in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) before the end of this year to warn government agencies and consumers about food-borne disease outbreaks, contaminations and recalls, and curb the spread of food poisoning in the region. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Rapid Alert System for Food (GRASF), which is being modeled around an existing system in Saudi Arabia, will allow countries in the region to transmit information regarding food and food contact material safety in a more efficient and rapid way. The system was announced by the Saudi Arabian Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) at the Dubai International Food Safety Conference. "The function of the GCC rapid alert system for food is simply to facilitate communication regarding existing direct or indirect risk to consumer's health from food or food contact material," said the GRASF website. SFDA executive director for Executive Directorate for Monitoring Centers and Crisis Management for food sector Dr. Hamad Abdulrahman Al Kanhal said the web-based system would enable GCC countries to take quick and uniform actions whenever there are concerns related to food safety. "When there is any food-borne disease outbreak, or food contamination, or withdrawal or rejection of any food product in any of our borders or in the retail market, the system will issue warnings to all the national focal points in GCC countries and consumers," Kanhal said. The GRASF system will issue an alert if a company attempts to re-export products rejected in any of the GCC countries, thus preventing the entry of rejected products in the region. The system, with its central point in Riyadh, will closely monitor any disease outbreaks and food contamination reports from across the world and report them to the GCC countries. In addition, the system will also issue warning to the public regarding rejected products by giving details such as the batch number of the affected product and the level of risk in the country. The system also issues consumer warnings to the public asking them not to use products in question. "We will give them all the details. We can clarify rumors and clear confusions of consumers. We can tell them if any withdrawn or rejected product or its particular batch is there in their market and how big or small is the risk for them in their country," he added.
