Food Safety: a shared responsibility
From producers to policy makers to consumers, food safety is everybody’s business. In France, several institutions monitor the quality of products intended for human consumption.
Avian flu, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), listeriosis, foot-and-mouth disease and dioxins often make headline news. Food and safety are indissociable issues in today’s world. All the actors in the food chain are concerned, from consumers and producers to processors and carriers. “Food safety is a shared responsibility, from farm to fork”, remind the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Maintaining the cold chain and keeping refrigerated foods at low temperatures is essential. A breakdown in the cold chain can activate the growth of microorganisms such as salmonella staphylococcus and listeriosis, which are often toxic. Listeriosis, for example, seldom occurs but is very dangerous, as the presence of Listeria monocytogenes can cause septicaemia and/or central nervous system disorders in patients with weakened immune systems. Meats, offal, delicatessen meats and pork products, pasteurised milk and fresh cheeses are all highly perishable foods that must be kept at between 0°C and 4°C. Butter, fatty products, dairy desserts and milk products are also perishable and must be stored at temperatures below 8°C.
Likewise, at the end of the cold chain, consumers must remember a few essential everyday requirements, such as cleaning their refrigerators on a regular basis and carefully reading all food labels. Consumers must also understand the meaning of the UBD and BBD logos on pre-packaged food. The use-by date (UBD) indicates the date the product must be used by. After that date, the product is considered as unfit for consumption. The best-before date (BBD) indicates the date until which the product is best in terms of freshness and quality - for grocery goods (biscuits, pasta, tinned foods, etc.) as well as frozen foods and beverages. After that date, the product can still be consumed without risk, but it will have lost many of its nutritional and flavour-related qualities.
Upstream of the food chain, the public authorities pass laws (see box) and vote on the application of the “precautionary principle”1, which authorizes them to “take provisional measures when there are sufficient reasons to believe that an activity or a product can endanger, in a serious and irreversible way, the health and safety of persons and the environment. These measures may involve, in the case of an activity, reducing or ending this activity or, in the case of a product, banning this product, even if the formal evidence of a causal link has not yet been irrefutably established”.
Various regulatory mechanisms have been established in France to guarantee food safety: a description of the product’s origin is required at all levels of the production chain and for all foods, while several national institutions keep watch. The general public became aware of the concept of traceability during the mad cow crisis, when certain food products were removed from the distribution chain. Traceability is the “ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recorded identifications” (ISO 8402) and can be used to track the different stages and locations of a product’s lifecycle, from its inception to its disposal. Moreover, the French Law of 1 July 1998 on monitoring public health and regulating products intended for human consumption led to the creation of three government establishments: the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA), established on 1 April 1999, the French Health Products Safety Agency (AFSSAPS), and the French National Health Watch Institute (InVS).
The AFSSA assesses the health and nutritional risks of food intended for human and animal consumption. Mainly involved in administrative matters, the AFFSA has incorporated several existing organizations and scientific support agencies such as the French National Centre for Veterinary and Food Studies (CNEVA) as well as expert agencies originally controlled by other government agencies prior to the founding of AFFSA. In parallel to this, AFSSAPS took over the functions of the French Drugs Agency (Agence du Médicament) and was assigned a broader mission that covers all health-related products with a view to guaranteeing their effectiveness, quality and appropriate use. The InVS monitors the state of health of the entire French population and alerts public authorities to any potential threats.
In order to collect and analyse epidemiological data, the institute mobilizes, oversees and coordinates a public health network comprised of health professionals, research institutes, public and private health establishments, health insurance offices, and patient and consumer organizations. The health watch data is presented to the public authorities as recommendations aimed at guiding and assessing health policies. This data is also intended for the health professionals implementing the policies. A key step in the preparation and assessment of public health policies, monitoring public health is a responsibility shared by all of France’s health safety institutions, in particular AFSSA, AFSSAPS and the French Agency for Environmental Health Safety (AFSSET). In partnership with these organizations, InVS has devised its expertise, monitoring and warning approach.
Delphine Barrais 1 The concept of “precautionary principle” first appeared in Germany at the end of the 1960s, authorising public authorities to take all “necessary and reasonable measures” to counter potential risks, even without possessing the necessary scientific knowledge to establish their existence.
Websites:
World Health Organisation: www.who.org
French Food Safety Agency: www.afssa.fr
French Health Products Safety Agency: http://afssaps.sante.fr
French Agency for Environmental Health Safety: www.afsse.fr/
French National Health Watch Institute: www.invs.sante.fr
REGULATION UPDATE
In the wave of recent health crises, EU food legislation has undergone significant modification. The “hygiene package” (six regulations and two directives) recently adopted by the EU merges, harmonises and simplifies the detailed and complex hygiene requirements currently scattered over eighteen EU Directives. It concerns the entire agri-food industry, from primary production (products of plant and animal origin) to the consumer and includes the food processing industry; catering, hotel, food and beverage professions; and food transport and distribution. The overall aim is to create a single and transparent policy applicable to all food and all food operators (including animal feed operators), together with effective instruments to manage potential alerts throughout the entire food chain. This new law will be applicable as of 1 January 2006.
see “Hygiene package” document (in French):
http://agriculture.maapar1.agriculture.gouv.fr/spip/actualites.paquethygiene_a4786.html