Boustany: Economy Ministry found 476 violations of food safety standards so far this year

BEIRUT — The parliamentary committee on the national economy, industry, trade and planning, chaired by MP Farid Boustany, has called for broader powers to be granted to the Lebanese Food Safety Authority after hearing a report from the Economy Ministry that nearly 500 violations of food safety standards have been found so far this year.

Boustany announced the committee's conclusions following its weekly meeting on Wednesday discussing, in particular, Lebanon's food safety mechanisms following the suspected contamination two weeks ago of Tannourine bottled water.

Tannourine resumed its operations last week after a five-day halt following a circular ordering its temporary withdrawal from the market before new tests ruled out the presence of a bacteria found in an initial round of testing.

The committee meeting was attended by its regular members, which include representatives from the relevant ministries and the director general of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Mohammad Abou Haidar, who presented a report from his ministry detailing that since the beginning of the year, it has carried out nearly 17,900 field inspections that revealed 476 instances of violations of food safety standards.

"Seven ministries are involved in this matter, and effective coordination among them is essential," Boustany announced following the meeting. He also stressed the need to "appoint a single official body responsible for accrediting laboratories authorized to carry out tests and to establish a list of approved laboratories, specifying their addresses and the types of tests they perform."

Boustany also called for the role of the Lebanese Food Safety Authority to be "strengthened" by "granting it broader powers to ensure better consumer protection."