CAIRO – The local food market has been hampered for a long time by a random mechanism that ultimately results in poor production and marketing control. Within this loose system, unlicensed food industries found ways and means to thrive, but that was usually at the expense of people's health. In fact there have been many supervisory bodies responsible for monitoring the standards of hygiene and safety. However, despite a crackdown on production and sales outlets, the lack of coordination among these bodies doomed all their efforts. Today the cabinet has finally taken a step towards a more organised system, whereby a single authority responsible for food safety is to be entrusted with the supervision of domestic food industries and imports. But it would be much easier to control and monitor all production stages, transportation, storage and marketing. Although this step represents the obvious solution to the chaotic food market in this country, corruption has actually been one of the major reasons why such an authority never saw the light of day. The interests of business tycoons, whether involved in production or import and who were close to the ruling circles, stood in the way of redressing faulty situations. There is hope that the decision of the incumbent government is not a mere formality that loses track when implemented. The merging of all bodies into a single authority is a public demand, but more importantly the people need an authority that performs well, observes the rules, sets clear parameters and punishes violators. It is so much easier to suggest new systems than implement them; it requires earnestness, persistence and sincerity to secure a sound application, because after all food safety is a right every citizen in this country is entitled to.
