Transcript history of much modern food safety legislation

Food Safety Legislation
 Introduction
 The history of much modern food safety legislation can
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be traced back to Victorian England (1837-1901), when
widespread adulteration of food was a serious problem.
This was not only fraudulent, but was often dangerous.
For example, toxic salts of lead and mercury were
sometimes used to provide additional colour in sugar
confectionery intended for children.
The urgent need to restrain these practices led to the
introduction of the first Food Adulteration Act in 1860.
Furthermore, the body of food safety legislation is
constantly being added to and amended, so that any
written work on the subject is almost certain to be out of
date by the time it is published.
 What follows, therefore, is a concise overview of food
safety legislation in the EU and in the USA, with a brief
mention of some of the international aspects of food law.
 European Legislation
 Much of the food safety legislation now in force in the
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countries of the European Union (EU) originates from the
European Commission (EC), rather than from national
authorities.
There are two main legal instruments by which the
Commission can introduce new food legislation:
1) Directive: which sets out an objective, but allows national
authorities to determine how that objective is to be achieved,
and cannot be enforced in individual Member States until
implemented into national legislation.
2) Regulation: which is ‘‘directly applicable’’ and becomes
law in all Member States as soon as it comes into force,
without the need to change national legislation.
Both Directives and Regulations may be described as
‘‘horizontal’’, dealing with one aspect of food, such as hygiene,
across all commodities, or ‘‘vertical’’, applying to particular
foods.
 Finally, the new legislation is published in the Official
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Journal of the EU and then comes into force.
This process can take years, especially if there are
contentious issues involved.
Until comparatively recently, food safety in the EU was
largely regulated by a complicated system of horizontal
and vertical food hygiene Directives that had evolved over
many years.
Consequently, the Commission carried out a
comprehensive review of the EU food hygiene legislation
in the late 1990s.
The result was the introduction of the ‘‘Food Hygiene
Package’’ of EU legislation, which came into force on 1
January 2006.
 The Food Hygiene Package
 The Package consists of three main Regulations, which
applied immediately throughout the EU. These are:
1) Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs
 covers a wide range of topics, including:
 the general obligations of businesses with regard to food
hygiene
 the requirements for hazard-analysis critical control
point- (HACCP) based food safety management
procedures
 hygiene requirements for premises and equipment
 staff training and personal hygiene
 heat processes
 packaging.
2) Regulation (EC) 853/2004 setting out specific hygiene
requirements for foods of animal origin
 supplements 852/2004 (previous case Regulation) by
adding specific hygiene requirements for:
 Meat
 Milk
 Fish
 Egg
 by-products, such as gelatine.
3) Regulation (EC) 854/2004 setting out specific requirements
for organizing official controls on products of animal origin
designed for human consumption.
 Deals only with the organisation of the official controls
needed for animal products in the human food chain.
 The approach of the new Regulations is described as
‘‘farm to fork’’, in that it applies to all stages in the food
supply chain, including farmers and growers involved in
primary production – a sector not covered by previous
food hygiene legislation.
 All food businesses must also register with the
‘‘competent authority’’, so that they can be clearly
identified.
 The inclusion of HACCP in the Regulations is another
key development, clearly signifying that this is now the
preferred method of ensuring food safety.
 US Legislation
 The system of food safety legislation in the USA is quite
different in structure from that of the EU.
 Despite this, the main objective of protecting the
consumer from exposure to unsafe and unwholesome food
products is much the same.
 The system is based on flexible and science-based federal
and state laws and the basic responsibility of industry to
produce safe foods.
 Federal Legislation
 The basic foundation of US food safety legislation is
determined by Congress in the form of authorising statutes,
which are designed to achieve specific food safety objectives
and to establish the level of public protection.
 These are generally broad in scope, but also define the limits of
regulation.
 Important statutes include the following:
 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act;
 Federal Meat Inspection Act;
 Poultry Products Inspection Act;
 Egg Products Inspection Act;
 Food Quality Protection Act;
 Public Health Service Act.
 Implementation of these statutes is the responsibility of
a number of executive agencies, and is accomplished by
the development and enforcement of regulations.
 The main federal regulatory organisations concerned
with food safety are:
 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety
and Inspection Service (FSIS).
 The FSIS is responsible for the safety of all meat,
poultry and egg products, while the FDA assumes
responsibility for all other foods.
 Examples of regulations developed in this way include
the HACCP regulations and the introduction of
performance standards for pathogen reduction and control.
 All current regulations are listed in the Code of Federal
Regulations.
 State Legislation
 In addition to the federal system of food safety legislation,
there is an additional layer of regulation at the state level.
 States have their own legislative assemblies that are able
to pass state laws and these may then be implemented as
regulations by the local authorities for health and/or
agriculture.
 Generally, state regulations should follow national food
safety policy, but there may be differences in the detail.
 Many states also have their own microbiological standards
or guidelines for foods.
 International Aspects of Food Safety Legislation Although
most countries have developed food legislation structures
on a national, or regional basis, there has also been a
degree of international cooperation.
 This has been achieved mainly through the activities of
the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body set up in
1963 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with the aim of
promoting the coordination of food standards work carried
out by national authorities and other bodies.
 Since its inception, Codex has developed and agreed a
series of food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and
other recommendations intended to protect consumer
health and ensure fair trade practices.
 Codex standards cover a range of topics, including
maximum residue limits for pesticides, food contaminants
and toxins.
 Codes of practice include food hygiene principles,
HACCP and control of veterinary drug use. Codex has
published ‘‘principles’’ covering microbiological criteria
and risk assessment.
 Reference: Lawley R., Curtis L. and Davis J. The food
safety hazard guidebook. RSC Publishing.