Fostering Academia-Industry Collaboration in Food Safety and Quality

The impetus which carries the consortium to apply for the project is to be a part of the food safety and quality chain. Food safety has become a serious issue for all human being and a possible cause of threaten to health and may be life. As this chain is a serious component of everybody daily life activities, it is important to offer people a trusted opinion and personnel to give a technical decision when it comes to their food. People seek food that is safe and of a nutritive value. This safety will not be achieved without the establishment of centres that strengthen the food safety procedure and help in preventing cases of food-borne diseases in the world. In Jordan Food safety is one of the top government priorities. Government has worked hard since decades to control and issue a set of legislations to guarantee the safety of food provided to citizens of Jordan. Ministry of health established the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) in 2003. The JFDA works as an independent public sector institution that is the sole national competent authority for ensuring food safety and quality. The FoodQA will be in line with the Jordanian vision resembled by the JFDA for providing safe food. FoodQA is a project concentrates on strengthening and enhancing the role of academia and industry in food sector. The creation of an interface Centres between the industry and academia is intended to support the HEI and structure the interfaces between HEIs and Industry; making available to the food sector technical and scientific services that can contribute to the development of the industry and to strength its competitiveness in the direction of a future collaboration with EU particularly in the area of food safety. This if happened will be positively reflected on the national economy, as it is a major industrial part and offer a huge number of employment opportunities for youth.