Food safety

Industrialized nations have implemented regulations and preventive programmes in an attempt to stem the incidence of food-borne disease and safeguard the health of consumers. Surveillance and tracing of food borne outbreaks have become more sophisticated, for example PulseNet (network of labs of public health and regulatory agencies) and FoodNet (active surveillance for food-borne disease) in North America. African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) nations must conform to international food safety standards to compete effectively in global trade. International organizations such as FAO and WHO have assisted in identifying needs but, regional organizations and national governments must improve their monitoring and traceability systems to minimize the risks to human life or markets. Vigilant and effective regulatory systems would also assist ACP countries to prevent indiscriminate dumping of sub-standard products. The scientific community should lead the effort in designing and implementing food safety systems including programmes for training actors: from growers to consumers. Universities and research institutes in ACP regions should play a role in identifying specific food safety challenges and developing sampling and testing procedures which respond to the diversity that exists within the food industry. 18/10/2007
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Food safety is an important part of both public health and food market development. This guide examines the types of public interventions that can improve food safety as part of the process of economic development and poses useful questions to help understand the food safety system. A resource section at the end guides the reader to more in-depth information on this topic. 18/10/2007
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Quality and safety requirements in cross border agri-food chains have become strict and rigid. This is related both to public regulation, such as the European General Food Law, and private voluntary regulatory systems e.g. EurepGAP, a pre-farm-gate-standard initiated by European retailers. Standards are primarily designed to maintain consumer confidence in food quality and safety. Attached to these, are goals to minimize environmental impacts of farming operations, optimize the use of inputs and ensure the health and safety of workers. This indicates that, increasingly, food quality and safety requirements do not only address issues, related to the actual product, but also incorporate environmental sustainability and social welfare matters surfacing in the production processes. It can be expected that in the coming years, producer organizations and international trade and industry players, possibly in tandem with government agencies, will seek new forms of inter-related regulations. 18/10/2007
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The article, presented at the 17th Annual Forum and Symposium IAMA Conference held in Parma, Italy in June 2007, addresses issues on how to improve the tracking and tracing system currently in use by INAL Ltda, a mineral water bottling company in Bolivia, for an application to the export of Brazil nuts. Having used RFID (radio frequency identification) technology on its active format to track and trace its bottled water, the company has improved the sales routes from the production plant to customers. At company level, RFID replaced the paper work required under a HACCP system. Download PDF 18/10/2007
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