By William Madouk
South Sudan’s National Bureau of Standards (SSNSB) joined the world to celebrate belated World Metrology Day.
Metrology is a science of measurement of things as checking weight, temperature, length and time among others.
The Executive Officer for SSNBS, Mary Gordon Muortat said weight and measurement are vital in determining quality and safety of food chain that consumers devour every day.
She added that Bureau of Standards is established and operating under two legislation that are Standard Act, Weight and measurement Act – Metrology including regulations and policy.
“I have realized since I started staying here, South Sudanese don’t care about food….that is why we are facing a lot of danger because they don’t give priority that is needed,” Ms. Muortat said.
“For you to eat something, you are supposed to ask yourself what am I eating? Is it good for me or is it not good? and this is what meteorology does,” she lamented.
Ms. Muortat cited that though metrology in South Sudan is coming up slowly, she also stated that accurate measurement is very crucial to weed out harmful residue, chemicals and identify food safety.
“So, the quality and safety of food is determined by measurement, there are chemical composition that contain vitamins – than there is biological composition, so that this machine weighs things that are good or harm for my body,” she explained.
Meanwhile, the acting director for Metrology, John Odonyi said the body also protects consumers from fraud and cheating in regard to weight and measurement related matters.
According to him, they always make sure that consumers buy an exact liter of fuel, oil and kilo of sugar, meat among other goods.
Bureau of Standards team inspected the laboratory after the fete and explained the importance of metrology.
The World Metrology Day is an annual celebration marked on every 20th May and was adopted in metre Convention on 20 May 1875 by representatives of seventeen nations.
The Day raises awareness about the importance of measurement. Science, trade, and industry all rely on accurate measurement to function and produce results.
This year’s fete is under the theme “Measurements supporting the global food system”
The theme highlights the reliance of the global food system on both quantity and quality.
Food measurement ranges from large volumes of grain traded internationally, through to making sure pre-packaged goods are labelled correctly.
Measurement also helps trade by testing for things like genetically modified organisms (GMO) and nutrient levels.
The theme was also chosen because of the increasing challenges of climate change, and global distribution of food in a world whose population reached 8 billion at the end of 2022.