08 November 2023 News A competence center in the field of food safety has been established in Russia on the basis of Roskachevo. The Center's activities will include standardization, certification, consulting in the field of implementation of food safety principles (HACCP) at enterprises, training of Russian organizations in the principles of this system. The Center will also educate consumers about the importance of compliance of food industry enterprises with these principles. «The HACCP system is aimed at ensuring product safety and the presence of control at all stages of the production process, including storage and sale of products. However, some of the country's enterprises are still poorly informed that it is mandatory. Although this system has been in operation for a long time both in the EAEU countries and worldwide, according to the data for 2022-2023, about 40% of food enterprises in Russia are not aware of the HACCP principles. The task of HACCP is to ensure that any enterprise complies with the safety of the final product, and thus provide the necessary guarantees to consumers», said Natalia Kolganova, Director of the Center of Competence in the field of food safety at Roskachevo. The Director of the Center of Competence in the field of food products of Roskachestvo also noted that the Center's task is to bring to business information about the practice of compliance with HACCP principles at enterprises in the simplest possible language, to help organizations to develop and implement the system not on paper, but in practice, as well as to train internal and external specialists in food safety issues in Russia. «The Russian Bakers Union fully supports the initiative of Roskachevo to open a Food Safety Competence Center, which will help Russian enterprises to implement the HACCP system. Many industrial bakery enterprises of the Russian Union of Bakers have implemented this system and have already evaluated its effectiveness. And, of course, we would like to see HACCP principles applied in the work of small and medium-sized businesses, as it directly affects the life and health of our country's consumers. At the same time, the presence of a certificate of HACCP implementation issued by an accredited body should be a guideline for citizens when choosing really high-quality products», said Dmitry Semenov, Vice President of the Russian Bakers Union. «In the chorek segment, as in other business spheres, it is important to monitor compliance with HACCP principles and engage in explanatory work with industry professionals. It is very good that Roskachestvo will get involved in this work», added Igor Bukharov, President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia. The press conference was also attended by Elena Shramko, head of the culinary academy «Exclusive», Konstantin Krivoshonok, doctor of the Center for Hygienic Education of the Population of Rospotrebnadzor, Nikolay Sarychev, founder and president of the culinary community Chef Team Russia, and Lyubov Shulgina, head of the new product development department of Virtex. Source: ROSKACHESTVO