“The complex education program by the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO), aimed at disseminating knowledge about food safety among youth of all ages from nursery school all the way to university, is a success”, the Ministry of Agriculture’s State Secretary for Food Chain Supervision Róbert Zsigó said on Wednesday at the launch of an education book of fairy tales entitled “Mese habbal, szülinappal” (Gammon and Spinach, and a Birthday).

Speaking at the Csillaghegy Primary School where the book for children aged 6-10 was launched, the State Secretary pointed out that some 5,300 children had been addressed in 60 kindergartens since the start of the education program in 2018. The fairy tales in the book focus on the general European tendency of ready-made food delivered to people’s doorsteps, because of which children rarely see how food is made at home and don’t learn about food safety.

Mr. Zsigó emphasised the importance of food safety regulations, explaining that wrong household practices are major reasons for illnesses caused by food in Europe. “Considering this fact, the newly released book for children aims to reflect on very real and timely issues”, he said.

The State Secretary added that the NFCSO had recently been invited to lead the risk communication workgroup of SafeConsume, a food safety research program with participants from 14 EU member countries. The program is supported by the European Commission. As a result, education materials for secondary school students will be compiled in international cooperation with the involvement of reputed Hungarian and European institutions, and are expected to be introduced in 2020.

NFCSO department head Gyula Kasza added that the authority’s first book of fairy tales related to food safety is accessible free of charge on the website of the Office’s “Ételt csak okosan!" (“Be smart with food”) program.

(MTI)