FOOD SAFETY

LEGISLATION

Legislation The two main regulatory agencies considering food safety are:

WHO (World Health Organization)

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

Under legislation regarding food safety:

The Codex Alimentarius Commission

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)

Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS agreement)

International Animal Health Organization (OIE)

International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)

Food and Drug Administration(FDA)

International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)

The Codex Alimentarius Commission

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a joint intergovernmental body

of FAO and WHO with 185 Member States and European Union (EU)

since 1963.

Currently the Commission has:

186 Codex Members - 185 Member Countries and 1 Member

Organization (EU)

229 Codex Observers - 52 IGOs, 161 NGOs, 16 UN

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "Book of Food") is a collection of

internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and

other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food

safety.

While Codex standards are non-mandatory, It is recognized under the

World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS agreement) in 1995 as an

international reference point for the resolution of disputes concerning

food safety and consumer protection.

The Codex Alimentarius covers:

all foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw.

food labelling, contaminants, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide

residues, and procedures for assessing the safety of foods derived from

modern biotechnology.

guidelines for governmental import and export inspection

and certification systems for foods.

Codex standards are based on scientific evidence provided through

independent expert meetings:

Based on the recommendations given by an independent international

expert meeting assembled by WHO and FAO and the established Codex

Procedures, the Commission adopts a Codex standard.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control

Points (HACCP)

It is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from

biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that

can cause the finished product to be unsafe, and designs measurements

to reduce these risks to a safe level

HACCP is referred as the prevention of hazards rather than finished

product inspection.

Mandatory meat HACCP systems are regulated by the USDA (United

States Department of Agriculture), while seafood and juice are regulated

by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

Use of HACCP is currently voluntary in other food

industries.

Principles of HACCP1)Conduct a hazard analysis:

determine the food safety hazards and identify the preventive measures

that can apply to control these hazards.

2)Identify critical control points:

A critical control point (CCP) is a step or procedure in a food

manufacturing process at which control can be applied and,

as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented

or reduced to an acceptable level

3)Establish critical limits for each critical control point:

A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value

to which a physical, biological, or chemical hazard

must be controlled at a critical control point

4)Establish critical control point monitoring requirements:

To ensure that the process is under control at each critical control point

5)Establish corrective actions:

These are actions to be taken when monitoring indicates

a deviation from an established critical limit

6)Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system

is working as intended:

Verification ensures the HACCP plan is adequate, may include such

activities as review of HACCP plans, CCP records, critical limits and

microbial sampling and analysis

7)Establish record keeping procedures:

requires that all plants maintain certain documents, including its hazard

analysis and written HACCP plan, and records documenting the

monitoring of critical control points, critical limits, verification activities, and

the handling of processing deviations.

International Food Safety

Authorities Network (INFOSAN)

Through INFOSAN, WHO assists Member States in managing food

safety risks, ensuring rapid sharing of information during food safety

emergencies to stop the spread of contaminated food from one country

to another.

INFOSAN also facilitates the sharing experiences and tested solutions

in and between countries in order to optimize future interventions to

protect the health of consumers.

National authorities of 181 Member States are part of the network

Food and Drug Administration(FDA)

The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health

through:

Ensure the safety of foods for humans, including dietary supplements

Ensure the safety of animal feed and the safety and effectiveness of

animal drugs, including the human food safety of animal drug residues

Set science-based standards for preventing foodborne illness and

ensuring compliance with these standards

Protect the food and feed supply from intentional contamination

Ensure that food labels contain reliable information consumers can use

to choose healthy diets

International Animal Health Organization

(OIE) It is the intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal

health worldwide. The need to fight animal diseases at global level led to

its creation.

It was Office International des Epizooties until 2003 and was changed

to the World Organisation for Animal Health but kept its historical

acronym OIE.

The main objective is to control epizootic diseases (eg.influenza virus in

bird population) and thus to prevent their spread

International Plant Protection Convention

(IPPC)

It is a 1951 treaty overseen by the Food and Agriculture

Organization(FAO) that aims to prevent and to control the introduction

and spread of pests of plants and plant products.

It ensures the plant health and the quality and safety of plant food

specially in international trade.

Agreement on the Application of

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

(SPS agreement) It is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization

established in 1995

Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on member-

states' policies relating to food safety as well as animal and plant

health (phytosanitation) with respect to imported pests and

diseases.

CODEX

OIE IPPC

SPS