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MeetingSharing information on national experiences in the general field of risk management 2002The subject of risk management is a broad one; the discussion group on "Sharing information on national experiences in the general field of risk management" is to discuss two specific topics in detail: "Reduction in foodborne hazards, including microbiological and others, with emphasis on emerging hazards" and "Integrated approaches to the management of food safety throughout the food chain". I would like to go beyond that in introducing the discussion group debates by touching on the various as pects of this subject and the ways in which risk managers and policy makers can approach it.
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Book (stand-alone)Assuring Food Safety and Quality. Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems
Food and Nutrition Paper 76
2003Effective national food control systems are essential to protect the health and safety of domestic consumers. They are also critical in enabling countries to assure the safety and quality of their foods entering international trade and to ensure that imported foods conform to national requirements. The new global environment for food trade places considerable obligations on both importing and exporting countries to strengthen their food control systems and to implement and enforce risk-based foo d control strategies. Consumers are taking unprecedented interest in the way food is produced, processed and marketed, and are increasingly calling for their Governments to accept greater responsibility for food safety and consumer protection. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have a strong interest in promoting national food control systems that are based upon scientific principles and guidelines, and which address all sect ors of the food chain. This is particularly important for developing countries as they seek to achieve improved food safety, quality and nutrition, but will require a high level of political and policy commitment. In many countries, effective food control is undermined by the existence of fragmented legislation, multiple jurisdictions, and weaknesses in surveillance, monitoring and enforcement. These guidelines seek to provide advice to national authorities on strategies to strengthen food contr ol systems to protect public health, prevent fraud and deception, avoid food adulteration and facilitate trade. They will enable authorities to choose the most suitable options for their food control systems in terms of legislation, infrastructure and enforcement mechanisms. The document delineates the overarching principles of food control systems, and provides examples of possible infrastructures and approaches for national systems. The target users of these Guidelines are national authorities concerned with ensuring food safety and quality in the interests of public health and consumer protection. The Guidelines will also be of assistance to a range of other stakeholders including consumer groups, industry and trade organizations, farmer groups and any other groups or associations that influence national policy in this area. -
MeetingIntegrated approaches to the management of food safety throughout the food chain 2002Most countries with systems for recording foodborne disease have reported significant increases in the incidence of diseases caused by pathogenic micro-organisms in food over the past few decades. As many as one person in three in industrialized countries may be affected by foodborne illness each year and the situation in most other countries is probably even worse. Apart from the deaths and human suffering caused by foodborne disease, the economic consequences are enormous, running into billion s of dollars in some countries. In Europe bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, "Mad cow disease") and contamination of food with dioxins led consumers to lose confidence in the safety of foods on the market, with severe economic consequences. In many cases, the origins of food safety problems can be traced back to contamination of animal feed or other factors in the early parts of the food chain, an area which until fairly recently had received scant attention from those responsible for food s afety.
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