m e f o s a n e w s l e t t e r · 2018-08-02 · p.o.box: 113-6382 - beirut – lebanon tel: 00...
TRANSCRIPT
MEFOSA Middle East North Africa Food Safety Associates participated in the HORECA exhibition on 29
March - 1 April 2011 at Biel Lebanon. HORECA is the region’s largest hospitality exhibition, and an an-
nual meeting place for Food & Beverages industries in the Middle East region.
We provided consultations services in GLP, GHP and GMPs to help caterers and food producers who
visited our stand to moving their business into a leadership position through science based food safety.
We offered technologies to help them monitor hygiene in all steps of production from the receiving of
raw materials till the transportation and distribution of final product.
MEFOSA also did demonstration on water activity testing using the PAWKIT which is the portable device
to test Aw on site and in only five minutes. This is to help our client not only in testing the quality of their
product but to know that they can do product development studies and extension of shelf life using our
technologies.
MEFOSA also organized the “Market Access and Lebanese Value
chains Development” seminar in collaboration with Economic and
Social Fund Development. The seminar has mainly discussed the de-
velopment of value chains of typical products and market access
needs and requirements to export these products to international mar-
kets. This conference is of great interest for the food services indus-
tries, food producers, exporters and related institutions.
Mr. Atef Idriss, General Manager at MEFOSA opened the
session by introducing the value chain. While Miss Hala Ro-
manos, Project Manager, offered ME- FOSA’s services and
consultancies, market access require- ments and procedures
to facilitate export and marketing of Lebanese products.
Ms. Souad Chalhoub presented the Economic and Social Fund
Development programs, its interventions in the sector of food tech-
nologies and the main challenges faced and Dr.Baalbaki ad-
dresses theSocial implications on development.
In the presentation of Miss Maria El Deghel, Corporate Sales, case studies on Lebanese food industries
and restaurants were discussed to finally offer our solutions of simple testing technologies to help pro-
ducers monitor their steps of production.
Maria EL DEGHEL– Sales Department
Mefosa at HORECA 2011 & ESFD Value Chain Workshop
I S S U E 6 , M A Y 2 0 1 1
M E F O S A N E W S L E T T E R
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
H O R E C A 2 0 1 1 1
H O S P I T A L S W A S T I N G M I L -
L I O N S O F D O L L A R S 2
M E F O S A A N D E G Y P T ’ S
A R A B I A N E U R O P E A N
F O O D T E C H D A Y S
3
K D 2 F O R F O O D S 4
F O O D B O R N E I L L N E S S
5
F O O D B O R N E I L L N E S S I N
K S A V S M E F O S A
6
L A U C O N F E R E N C E F O R
R E S E A R C H A B O U T F O O D
S A F E T Y A N D S E C U R I T Y
7
M E F O S A S U R V E Y F A S T
M E T H O D F O R D E T E C T I O N
A N T I B I O T I C S
8
R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S 9
S P O T L I G H T 1 0
Lions Bldg. 301 – 126 Sourati Street
P.O.Box: 113-6382 - Beirut – Lebanon
Tel: 00 961 1 343141 / 343101
Fax: 00 961 1 739986 / 346218
Hospitals Across The World Are Wasting Millions Of Dollars Every Year
Just about everything in today’s hospital institutions either benefits from or requires some level
of tracking or monitoring.
The regulatory agencies regulate temperature and humidity management processes in hospitals.
Hospitals who find themselves out of compliance with this process could find its Medicare
reimbursements stop and worse yet, lose its accreditation.
1-Refrigeration must maintain temperatures levels such that vaccines, medications, tissue and
blood products do not spoil.
Every year, billions of dollars worth of vaccines are shipped to thousands of medical providers
across the country, and every year doctors must dispose of tens of millions of dollars worth of
those vaccines because they became too warm or too cold while in storage.
2-The CDC (Center of Disease and Control Prevention ) estimates that hundreds of thousands of
doses of vaccines against diseases such as flu, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio,
mumps, measles, chicken pox, and the cervical cancer virus, are thrown out each year because of
improper refrigeration at clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices, the AP reported.
3-Spoilage often results from a combination of factors, such as a refrigerator malfunctioning or
not being set or maintained at the proper temperature and failure of workers responsible for
regularly logging the temperature to recognize when the readings are off.
MEFOSA's technology is able to monitor hospital refrigerator humidity and temperature levels.
MEFOSA's data loggers with integrated temperature or humidity sensors send the measured
condition over the hospital's network.
*The data loggers can be placed directly in refrigerators, freezers, blanket warmers, rooms and
closets and require no hard wires.
*The battery powered tags and wireless communication link continue monitoring even in the
event of power shortages.
*Their battery is replaceable and lasts for several years.
•A web-based temperature and humidity alert dashboard displays all alerts that have been
triggered and only those alerts relevant to a specific user or department are shown.
Just about everything in today’s hospital institutions either benefits from or requires some level
of tracking or monitoring.
The regulatory agencies regulate temperature and humidity management processes in hospitals.
Hospitals who find themselves out of compliance with this process could find its Medicare
reimbursements stop and worse yet, lose its accreditation.
1-Refrigeration must maintain temperatures levels such that vaccines, medications, tissue and
blood products do not spoil.
Every year, billions of dollars worth of vaccines are shipped to thousands of medical providers
across the country, and every year doctors must dispose of tens of millions of dollars worth of
those vaccines because they became too warm or too cold while in storage.
2-The CDC (Center of Disease and Control Prevention ) estimates that hundreds of thousands of
doses of vaccines against diseases such as flu, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio,
mumps, measles, chicken pox, and the cervical cancer virus, are thrown out each year because of
improper refrigeration at clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices, the AP reported.
3-Spoilage often results from a combination of factors, such as a refrigerator malfunctioning or
not being set or maintained at the proper temperature and failure of workers responsible for
regularly logging the temperature to recognize when the readings are off.
MEFOSA's technology is able to monitor hospital refrigerator humidity and temperature levels.
MEFOSA's data loggers with integrated temperature or humidity sensors send the measured
condition over the hospital's network.
*The data loggers can be placed directly in refrigerators, freezers, blanket warmers, rooms and
closets and require no hard wires.
*The battery powered tags and wireless communication link continue monitoring even in the
event of power shortages.
*Their battery is replaceable and lasts for several years.
•A web-based temperature and humidity alert dashboard displays all alerts that have been
triggered and only those alerts relevant to a specific user or department are shown.
Hamza Chehimi– Sales Department
Food Tech Days
On the 7th and 8th of December 2010, MEFOSA participated in the
2nd Arabian European Food Tec Days on "Advances in Meat &
Fish Technology" in Ismailia, Egypt with two lectures:
"Empowering MENA SME's HACCP implementation" by Mr. Atef
Idriss, CEO and "Public/Private Partnerships & Food Safety in the
Poultry Sector" by Ms Hala Romanos, Project Manager.
MEFOSA, through the intervention of Ms Romanos, exposed the importance of food safety in the food
industry in general and in the poultry sector in particular and presented the services and technologies of
MEFOSA that aims to assure the
safety of these products and control
hazards at all stages of the supply
chain.
MEFOSA offers a range of services
and consultancies aiming to ensure
food safety, quality and safe manage-
ment (Good Agriculture Practices,
Good Manufacturing Practices, Good
Hygiene Practices, HACCP, ISO...)
from farm to fork. MEFOSA can also provide advanced rapid detection systems including equipments for
measuring and monitoring of water activity, hygiene, toxins, pesticide residues, water management, soil
content and many others...
Ms Romanos emphasized on the need of private public
partnerships and their importance to explore hazards
throughout the supply chain and assure safe products to
consumers. Finally a case study on hygiene in a MENA
poultry industry was exposed and helped evaluate the
food safety management of a poultry industry and deter-
mine the critical points of bacterial contamination
throughout the process by conducting a hygiene audit to
collect data, using MEFOSA’s rapid test, on bacterial
presence in some major areas (preparation, direct han-
dling of food) and in the product itself. The results of
this study, their interpretation and some recommenda-
tions were communicated to the conference attendees.
MEFOSA & Egypt’s Arabian European Food Tech Days
Hala Romanos- Services and Consultation Department
KD2 For Foods From Decagon
Moussa Chreif– Sales Department
Year after year, we hear and read the same advice: Handle food carefully in
the summer because foodborne illness — also known as "food poisoning" — is more prevalent in warmer weather. Do foodborne illnesses increase dur-
ing the summer months? If so, why?
First, there are the natural causes. Bacteria are present throughout the environment in soil, air, water, and in
the bodies of people and animals. These microorganisms grow faster in the warm summer months. Most
foodborne bacteria grow fastest at temperatures from 90 to 110 °F. Bacteria also need moi sture to flourish,
and summer weather is often hot and humid. Given the right circumstances, harmful bacteria can quickly
multiply on food to large numbers. When this happens, someone eating the food can get sick.
Second, outside activities increase. More people are cooking outside at picnics, barbecues, and on camping
trips. The safety controls that a kitchen provides — thermostat-controlled cooking, refrigeration, and wash-
ing facilities — are usually not available.
We know foodborne illness increases in warm weather. We also know that consumers can bacteria by fol-
lowing these four simple steps to safer food in the summertime:
Clean: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often
Separate: Don't Cross-Contaminate
Cook: Cook to Safe Temperatures
Chill: Refrigerate Promptly
Leftovers? If you have any doubts, throw it out
*Reference: Food Safety Education- Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agri-
culture (USDA).
Foodborne Illness
Hala Romanos– Services and Consultation Department
Foodborne Illness in KSA and MEFOSA
Maria EL DEGHEL– Sales Department
M E F O S A ’ S M E T H O D F O R D E T E C T I N G A N T I B I O T I C
Research trends for Food Safety and Security conference was held by Lebanese American University, in partnership with MEFOSA (Middle
East Food Safety Associates) and UC DAVIS (University of California) on the third of May, 2011, at LAU, Business Building Campus.
This Conference provided a forum for experts in academia, industry and policy-
makers to present their work, interact, and to share ideas. Moreover, the out-
comes from this conference included raising of awareness of policymakers and
the general public about the implications of these critical issues,
This Conference presided by Dr. Ahmad Kabbani (LAU) during the opening session by welcoming Dr. Joseph Jabbra (President of LAU), Mr.
Atef Idriss (General Manager at MEFOSA), Mr. Fuad Fleifel (General Director of the Ministry of Economy), and all the researchers, professors
from different Lebanese universities and from UC DAVIS and attending LAU students.
LAU and MEFOSA had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Glen Young, a Food Scientist and Microbiolo-
gist in UC DAVIS, who covered some of the developing capacities to bridge basic Science to the
development of new technologies that impact Food Safety and Security. In Addition to Dr. Marita
Cantwell, Plant Scientist-UC DAVIS, who covered some of the postharvest technology challenges for
Vegetables and Fresh-Cut products. Then Dr. Zeina Kassaify (AUB), Presented some of the chal-
lenges and projects related to Food Safety and Quality in Lebanon and also presented the LFSA
(Lebanese Food Safety Associations) and its related contributions.
Moreover, Dr. Apostolos Angleidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) introduced some of the is-
sues and challenges related to Food Safety of Traditional Dairy Products and the important ways for manu-
facturing Greek Yogurt. Finally, Different presentations about Food Safety and Security from different Leba-
nese industries as Liban Lait, Al Baba Sweets, LAFST, Moreover, Ms Imtithal Sheet (MEFOSA) introduced
the importance of Food safety regulations to prevent the obstacles in market access exporting the food
products to International Markets, and the need of private and public partnership to ensure safe food to
consumers.
Finally, the session ended by introducing many projects related to several topics as Environment,
Aflatoxins in Dairy products, Food Safety and Microbiological researches which are presented by
Masters and PhD Students from different universities in Lebanon as American University of Beirut,
Beirut Arab University, Saint-Joseph University, University of Balamand, Notre Dame University.
At the end of the conference, the speakers presented some of the recommendations that are re-
lated to the Food Safety sector and the importance of collaboration between public sector, private
and academic institutions. In addition, to understand the importance of Food Safety regulations for
exporting the food products and apply all the essential requirements and regulations from FDA and
Research trends in Food Safety and Security: Science, Technology and Policy, RTFSSTP
Imtithal Sheet– Services and Consultation
M E F O S A ’ S M E T H O D F O R D E T E C T I N G A N T I B I O T I C R E S I D U E S
MEFOSA s.a.r.l believes that safe food and feed are basic building blocks for sustainable development and that the Arab Middle East should
develop its own food safety prerequisites in full recognition with its own socio-economic priorities, and in harmony with international standards
and norms, while respecting the culture, family values and quality of life throughout the MENA region.
In poultry, antibiotic usage facilitated efficient production, and also enhances the health and well being of
poultry by reducing the incidence of disease, but unfortunately, excessive usage consumption of edible
poultry tissues could be contaminated with harmful concentrations of drug residues. Antibiotic residues in
foods of animal origin are one of the sources of concern among the public and medical health professionals.
Some antibiotics are directly toxic, such as the chloramphenicol which cause fatal plastic anemia, while
allergic reactions and toxic side effects may have other consequences.
We also provide test strips for detection of antibiotic residues in animal products, honey and feed.
Caren Jabbour– Trading Department
MEFOSA helps in screening simply and reliable systems for
MEFOSA provide ELISA kits / test strips that are ISO certified
developed by Wanger covering most of the common items re-
quired by the clients for the following business area:
Drug Residues
Feed
Animal Tissues / Fish and Shrimp
Honey
Dairy
Other Biological Samples
Chloramphenicol ELISA kit, Sul-
fanomides ELISA kit, Erythromycine
ELISA kit, Melamine ELISA kit and
others
Streptomycin ELISA kit, Tetracyclin
ELISA kit,
Gentamycin ELISA kit,
Zearalanol ELISA kit and others
Penicillin ELISA kit, Kanamycin
ELISA kit, Streptomycin ELISA
kit, Ampicillin ELISA kit and
others
MEFOSA contributes in European Research Programs (FP7) in the Health, Environmental, Food safety, Risk Communication,
Agricultural calls, under the Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) activity and which is targeted to SME’s. MEFOSA collabo-
rated in these research programs with different Academic and private institutions, particularly Lebanese American University,
Lebanese International University, Linnaeus University (Sweden) and other international and local universities and institutions.
Moreover, MEFOSA participated with Linnaeus University, LIU, and other SMEs institutions in Tempus Programs.
Dr. Joseph Jabra (President of LAU),
Mr. Atef Idriss and Dr. Fuad Hashwa
(Dean at the faculty of Science, LAU)
Ratifying an agreement for participation in FP7 projects and Tempus programs between MEFOSA, LIU and LNU (Mr.
Atef Idriss, Dr. Mosad Zineldin, Dr. Wafica Ghoul, Hala Romanos and Imtithal Sheet)
D
Dr. Jabra ratifying the MOU.
MEFOSA Research Programs And Partners
Imtithal Sheet– Services and consultation department
Azal Hawwa, AUB graduate in Management, married and a mother of 2 kids.
Accomplished management career reflects 20 years' experience in administration,
public relations, operational leadership, human resources management, and organ-
izational development.
Highly effective communicator with excellent team- building and interpersonal skills;
works effectively and in a special way with individuals at all levels. Recognized as
highly potential, problem solving, creative leader with a unique negotiation skills
aspects.
She works hard on accomplishing strategic goals, managing and controlling agreed
contracts and budgets.
Mrs. Hawwa joined MEFOSA from 9 years where she applied and transmitted
smoothly her capabilities in a decent, honest, and strong manner.
Above all, she believes that a successful company is a company having a well organ-
ized, healthy, educated, & friendly team who can upgrade the company into higher
levels.
In summary, Mrs. Hawwa is a professional lady , her vision is to smile and smile,
implement simplicity, caring, controlling, and to thank God always for what we have.
F O O D S A F E T Y I S O U R S P E C I A L T Y
www.mefosa.com
www.mefosa.net
Institute of Family & Entre-
preneurial Business- School
of Business
(LAU)
Institute for Social, Reli-
gious & Civil Society Studies
- ISORCS
(NDU)
Lebanese Association for
Food Scientists & Techni-
cians
(LAoFST)
Lebanese Association for
Marketing & Advertising
(LAMA/WFA-Lb)
Lebanese Association
for Geographic
Appellation
(LAGA)
Lions Building # 301-126 Sourati Street
Hamra, Beirut – Lebanon
P.O.Box: 113-6382, Hamra
Tel/Fax: + 961 1 739 986
Tel: + 961 1 745 744
Mobile: + 961 3 329 966
E-mail: [email protected]
M E F O S A - M E N A F O O D S A F E T Y
A S S O C I A T E S S . A . R . L .
S P O T L I G H T O N . . .
Azal Hawwa