Non-profit medical research centre, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC), and hospitality, food and beverage consulting expert, b.Consulting Cambodia, launched a new Food Safety and Best Practices Training Program on September 7, 2023.
The introduction of this new training program presents a significant opportunity for food business operators to ensure compliance with the law while being afforded the flexibility to develop customised food safety systems tailored to individual company needs.
According to a press release issued by the two parties, the Food Safety and Best Practices Training Program will cover topics such as food contamination prevention, international standard operating procedures for food safety, and compliance with regulatory requirements under the new Food Safety Law. The release added that b.Consulting Cambodia is also entering into partnerships with professional industry associations, such as the Cambodia Restaurant Association (CRA).
Mr. Florian Bohême, Founder of b.Consulting Cambodia, said that this training program aims to help companies of all sizes within various sectors of the hospitality, food and beverage industries. Combining the excellence and extensive knowledge of the IPC teams, he stressed that the training has been crafted to be practical and accessible, and will feature both English and Khmer content.
Dr. Navin Sreng, Head of the Food Safety Laboratory at IPC, told B2B Cambodia that there are currently two training programs on offer:
- A one-day training focused on food safety and good hygiene practices,
- A two-day training where the first day focuses on food safety and good hygiene practices, and the second day focuses on the ‘Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)’ system.
Speaking further on the work IPC does, Dr. Navin shared that when the Laboratory for Environment and Food Safety (LEFS) was first founded in 1995, its main focus was on water and food testing. However, the lab has now expanded its capacity to test for microbiological, physical and chemical contamination as well. The lab also received ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification from the International Accreditation Service (IAS) in 2022. Professor André Spiegel, Director of the IPC, emphasised that the partnership with b.Consulting Cambodia will allow the training program to become more accessible for a greater number of actors. “This will make it possible to improve – to strengthen – good hygiene practice and food safety and, therefore, contribute to better health for the population of Cambodia,” he said. Bohême also underlined that this new partnership is in line with the Food Safety Law adopted in Cambodia in July 2022. He further described the training program as being designed for ‘low-skilled employees’, such as line cooks, baristas, waiters, bartenders, catering and canteen staff.
“We, at b.Consulting food and beverage hospitality consultancy firm, know that one of the most effective ways of combating food-borne illness and contamination is through better training of our restaurant, cafe, hotel, and canteen staff,” he said.
Every year, worldwide, 600 million people get sick and 42,000 die as a result of food contamination. Food-borne illness is recognised as a crucial public health concern in Cambodia, and training programs, like the one offered by IPC and b.Consulting, play an important role in addressing this issue.
Read More on Food Safety: