Amman, Sept. 15 (Petra) -- Director-General of the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Rana Obaidat said the agency was continuing efforts to develop food safety standards in school canteens, with the aim of creating a safe and healthy school food environment.
She said ensuring students' health was the main driver of efforts to provide safer, higher-quality school food.
Obaidat made the remarks during the launch of a workshop on requirements for school canteens and production kitchens, along with the opening of an exhibition featuring a range of locally produced healthy products in support of domestic production.
The workshop was attended by Director of the General Education Department at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development Ahmad Al-Masafa, Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health Mohammad Bani Nasr, Chairman of the Supreme Committee for the "My Health at My School" initiative and member of the Parliamentary Health and Food Committee MP Shaher Al-Shatnawi, as well as representatives of several schools.
Obaidat said intensive inspection campaigns and field surveys of school canteens were continuing, given their vital role in promoting healthy dietary behaviors and habits, as well as providing food that meets safety and quality requirements.
She stressed the importance of coordinated efforts and integrated roles among all relevant authorities to ensure compliance with applicable health and technical requirements.
Al-Shatnawi said schools are environments where health, behavioral, and dietary habits are formed, adding that the "My Health at My School" initiative was launched as part of a national vision based on this understanding.
He described health requirements for school canteens as a unified and integrated national effort, saying all parties share responsibility for ensuring that food reaching students inside schools is safe, sound, and healthy.
Bani Nasr said school canteens can help change dietary culture and encourage healthy eating habits. He noted the launch of the findings of the Global School-based Student Health Survey in Jordan, which was conducted in 57 schools.
The survey found that 32.9% of students in the surveyed age group were overweight or obese, with 12.1% classified as obese. It also found that only 12% of students in the age group engaged in more than 60 minutes of physical activity a day on weekdays.
The ministry is taking a number of concrete steps to improve the health and nutritional environment in schools, he said.
The workshop featured a series of lectures supervised by Ruwayda Abdullah, the JFDA's representative on the School Canteens Committee.
The sessions covered production kitchens and the procedures for obtaining their licenses, presented by Iman Khlaifat; health requirements for school canteens, presented by Mohammad Al-Mahasis, head of the School Health Department at the Capital Health Directorate; and "Their Food, Their Safety: Celiac Disease and the School Canteen," presented by Abida Al-Qaisi, head of the Charity Association for Celiac Disease Patients.
The workshop also featured a lecture on food choice architecture in school canteens by Ola Hannoun, head of the JFDA's Factories Division, and a session on preventing food poisoning by Hala Al-Khazali, head of the Food Safety Epidemiology Division.
The workshop concluded with a discussion session, during which school representatives shared their observations and recommendations, and future steps were presented as part of ongoing efforts to develop the food safety system in school canteens.
//Petra// AF
