ISLAMABAD, Jun 05 (APP):The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has signed an agreement to collaborate to further the cause of nutrition in Pakistan.
SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, while speaking on the occasion, said nutritional security was the most important aspect which was threatened by variety of factors with particular threat from climate change and consumption of micro-plastics.
He said plastics were highly resistant to degradation and sustained in the environment for a prolonged period resulting in getting way into human food chain.
Microplastic exposure to humans, he added, was caused by foods of both animal and plant origin, food additives, drinks, and plastic food packaging. As this year’s Environment Day theme was “Plastic Pollution”, by reducing micro-plastic consumption, “we can ensure proper utilization of food consumed by the humans and avoid plastic-toxicity”, he concluded.
Faiz Rasool, Senior Policy Advisor of GAIN Pakistan said food safety was an important pillar to ensure food and nutrition security.
There was need to work for a National Food Safety Policy in Pakistan and “same goes for Multisectoral National Nutrition Policy”. Dietary guidelines were available but “these need to be translated into the practices and the food consumption approaches,” e added .
In the backdrop of Nutrition Emergency announced by the Government of Pakistan, he said, there was an immediate need to bring all like-minded organizations to strive for a national Nutrition and National Food Safety policies. By working with like-minded organizations, this goal would be achieved.
APP/ajb-usg
.jpg)
