Thursday 30/October/2025 – 12:04 AM
Dr. Mahfouz Ramzi, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Committee at the Pharmacists Syndicate, criticized the Food Safety Authority’s decision during the recent period to replace pharmacists responsible for registration and inspection of the manufacture of nutritional supplements with graduates of other specialties, warning of the repercussions of this on product quality and consumer safety.
Criticism against the Food Safety Authority due to the exclusion of pharmacists from their supervisory role in other specialties
Dr. Mahfouz Ramzy explained, in a special statement to Cairo 24, that excluding pharmacists from their supervisory role within the Food Safety Authority will have negative effects on nutritional supplements and foods at the same time, given that the materials used in the manufacture of drinks and nutritional supplements are originally pharmaceutical materials, requiring precise experience in the proportions of ingredients and their permissible limits.
The Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Committee stressed that the pharmacist is the first expert and most knowledgeable about these substances, and he has the right to monitor and ensure compliance with safe standards and proportions, noting that marginalizing his role in this vital sector may negatively reflect on the quality of products and the safety of consumers.
A large number of pharmacists left the Food Safety Authority due to low salaries
In the same context, an informed pharmacist source revealed to Cairo 24 the departure of a large number of pharmacists working in the inspection and registration sectors of the Food Safety Authority, especially in the departments concerned with special foods and nutritional supplements, due to low salaries and weak incentives, which caused a shortage of personnel responsible for field supervision of facilities and markets.
The source explained that a number of pharmacists working at the Authority left their positions as a result of low wages, as some of them returned to their original employers, while others terminated their contracts, pointing out that the Authority has already begun to take steps to compensate for this deficit by appointing new batches of graduates of the Faculties of Science, Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine during the recent period, with the appointment plan continuing during the coming weeks.
The source indicated that the Ministry of Health is still the body responsible for field control of food and nutritional supplements, with these tasks officially transferred to the Food Safety Authority at the beginning of the new year, explaining that the Authority is currently working on preparing inspection teams and training new cadres in preparation for assuming responsibility for oversight immediately upon officially receiving them.
