Don’t spread food-related rumours, public told

ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), has warned the public about the negative impact of circulating foodrelated rumours across various social networking plaforms, specially during Ramadan.

Dr Mohamed Al Hammadi, Director of Communication and Community Service Division, at ADAFSA, said that propagating such unfounded and false information has become a dishonest way used by some traders to discredit their competitors’ products, which contributes significantly to damaging manufacturing and supply facilities.

He urged the public not to be swayed by such rumours, especially those circulating on social media about highly demanded products during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

As part of its efforts to reduce the impact of the rumours, the ADAFSA carries out several programmes aimed at raising the awareness of consumers over food-related issues. Through its programmes, the authority strives to respond to these rumours on a scientific basis, as circulated information is studied and analysed by the authority.

Consumers have been urged therefore to contact the authority directly on the Abu Dhabi Government Contact Centre’s toll-free number, 800555, to report any food rumours so that ADAFSA can take the necessary action.

Recently, the ADAFSA organised a webinar under the theme, “Al in Agriculture,” to highlight the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques on farming and food production.

The webinar was hosted as part of the activities of the Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence Lab as a collaboration between the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority ( ADDA) and the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence ( MBZUAI).

The webinar was presented by Jeff Keiser, Lead Offering Manager, Agribusiness Solutions at IBM Business, one of the world’s leaders in digital farming and AI applications. It was atended by those interested in using AI techniques in farming.

Ayesha Mohamed Al Khazraji, Analysis Section Manager at ADAFSA, welcomed the speaker and atendees, stressing the webinar’s importance in achieving agricultural sustainability and improving productivity.