17 Aug 2018
Food quality standards can be costly to enforce, but the cost of low standards can often be far higher, with a similar impact to other major health issues. Food quality issues often disproportionately affect people in developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable. Compounding this effect, food production often represents a large proportion of GDP in developing countries — while lack of food quality standards can negatively affect the viability of their products in a global market. Dr. Renata Clarke, Senior Food Safety and Quality Officer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, discusses how technological innovation and policy framework can enable improved food standards, quality of life, and ultimately global market access in developing countries.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy
Renata holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of the West Indies and a PhD in Food Science and Technology from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. For the last 20 years she has worked for FAO where she is Head of Food Safety and Quality. While with FAO, she has overseen the development and implementation of numerous capacity development projects in all regions. For the last eight years, she has led the FAO Food Safety Programme and has promoted integrated programmes of technical assistance aimed at enhancing the capacities of countries to assure the safety of their food supplies. Under her leadership, the FAO Food Safety Programme has produced a variety of publications and on-line tools to support countries’ efforts to strengthen national systems of food control and to enhance their engagement in global food standard-setting processes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Renata has guided new innovative work on the assessment of food control systems and on promoting transparent and evidence-based decision-making on food safety. She also provides general oversight to the FAO Programme for the Provision of Food Safety Scientific Advice, which underpins Codex standard setting.