Foodstuff safety

·         What does the European Union established in the field of foodstuff safety?

Following recent food crises, the Eu law in the field of foodstuff has been completely

reformed, in order to improve EU rules and procedures on safety and, by this way, increase consumers’ trust in the internal market.

Thanks to the Regulation 178/2002/EC, laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, before reaching your home foodstuffs are now checked and monitored throughout the food productive chain, "from farm to table".

Even if also foodstuffs are under liberalization, all the differences between Member States’ rules on food quality and safety have been obstructing foodstuff movement within the EU.

Therefore, a close cooperation among consumers, international trade organizations, professional bodies and non-governmental organizations has been undertaken in order to establish a common framework of shared principles, requirements and procedures on food.

·         What does the Regulation 178/2002/EC aim at?

As clearly stated in article 5, by enforcing the Regulation 178/2002/EC the European Union aimed at:

1)     assuring a high level of protection of human life and health and the protection of consumers' interests, taking into account the protection of animal health, plant health and the environment;

2)     achieving the free movement of food and feed manufactured within the European Community;

3)     taking into consideration the development of international technical standards on food and feed, as well as on animal health and plant protection, in order to promote consistency between international technical standards and food law while ensuring that the high level of protection adopted in the Community is not reduced.

·         What the European Union concretely established in order to ensure a high level of food safety?

In order to ensure food safety and quality it is important to consider each stage of the productive chain as a continuum from the  primary production and the production of animal feed to the food sale or supply to consumers, because each element may have a potential impact on food safety.

Therefore, measures adopted in each case depend on the risk analysis process, consisting of three interconnected steps:

-        risk assessment, taking into account scientific, social, economic, ethic and environmental factors;

-        risk management, in order to weigh policy alternatives in consultation with interested parties, considering risk assessment  and other legitimate factors, and, if need be, selecting appropriate prevention and control options;

-        risk communication, that is the interactive exchange of information and opinions regarding hazards and risks, risk-related factors and risk perceptions among interested parties.

Moreover, thank to the “precautionary principle” both the European Commission and Member States are allowed to adopt provisional risk management measures in the case, following an assessment of available information, the possibility of harmful effects on health is identified but still persists scientific uncertainty.

·         What is the European Food Safety Authority and how does it work?

The European Food Safety Authority is been established by the Directive 178/2002/CE, on the basis on the principles of independency, transparency and confidentiality. It provides scientific advice and scientific and technical support for the Community's legislation and policies in all fields which have a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety. It constantly receives scientific assessments from the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States, but undertakes also scientific work on its own initiative.

·         What happens in the case a foodstuff is potentially injurious to human, animal or environmental health?

In case of a direct or indirect risk to human health deriving from food or feed the Regulation 178/2002/EC established a rapid alert system for emergencies, which obliges Member States to promptly adopt appropriate measures aimed at restricting the placing on the market or forcing the withdrawal from the market or the recall of the unsafe food or feed, as well as immediately notify to the Commission, which will apply the most suitable measure.

In order to prevent emergencies, throughout the productive chain food business operators must effectively control the compliance of food and feed with EU standards on foodstuff safety and quality, as well as each Member State must check the right enforcement of the EU law within its borders, sanctioning any infringement.

At all stages of the chain, the legal responsibility for ensuring the safety of foodstuffs rests with the operator. Food and feed business operators shall be able to identify any person from whom they have been supplied with a food, a feed, a food-producing animal, or any substance intended to be incorporated into a food or feed.

If a food business operator considers that a food which it has imported, produced, processed, manufactured or distributed is not in compliance with the food safety requirements, it shall immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food in question from the market and inform the competent authorities.