3. IMPORTANT FOOD ISSUES

3.1 Food Safety, Quality and Consumer
Protection

The terms food safety and food quality can sometimes be
confusing. Food safety refers to all those hazards, whether chronic or acute,
that may make food injurious to the health of the consumer. It is not
negotiable. Quality includes all other attributes that influence a product’s
value to the consumer. This includes negative attributes such as spoilage,
contamination with filth, discoloration, off-odours and positive attributes such
as the origin, colour, flavour, texture and processing method of the food. This
distinction between safety and quality has implications for public policy and
influences the nature and content of the food control system most suited to meet
predetermined national objectives.

Food control is defined as:

….a mandatory regulatory activity of
enforcement by national or local authorities to provide consumer protection and
ensure that all foods during production, handling, storage, processing,
and distribution are safe, wholesome and fit for human consumption; conform to
safety and quality requirements; and are honestly and accurately labelled as
prescribed by law.

The foremost responsibility of food control is to enforce the
food law(s) protecting the consumer against unsafe, impure and fraudulently
presented food by prohibiting the sale of food not of the nature, substance or
quality demanded by the purchaser.

Confidence in the safety and integrity of the food supply is
an important requirement for consumers. Foodborne disease outbreaks involving
agents such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella and chemical
contaminants highlight problems with food safety and increase public anxiety
that modern farming systems, food processing and marketing do not provide
adequate safeguards for public health. Factors which contribute to potential
hazards in foods include improper agricultural practices; poor hygiene at all
stages of the food chain; lack of preventive controls in food processing and
preparation operations; misuse of chemicals; contaminated raw materials,
ingredients and water; inadequate or improper storage, etc.

Specific concerns about food hazards have usually focused
on:

• Microbiological
  hazards;

• Pesticide residues;

• Misuse of food
  additives;

• Chemical contaminants,
  including biological toxins; and

• Adulteration.

The list has been further extended to cover genetically
modified organisms, allergens, veterinary drugs residues and growth promoting
hormones used in the production of animal products. For more details see Annex
3.

Consumers expect protection from hazards occurring along the
entire food chain, from primary producer through consumer (often described as
the farm-to-table continuum). Protection will only occur if all
sectors in the chain operate in an integrated way, and food control systems
address all stages of this chain.

As no mandatory activity of this nature can achieve its
objectives fully without the cooperation and active participation of all
stakeholders e.g. farmers, industry, and consumers, the term Food
Control System is used in these Guidelines to describe the integration
of a mandatory regulatory approach with preventive and educational strategies
that protect the whole food chain. Thus an ideal food control system should
include effective enforcement of mandatory requirements, along with training and
education, community outreach programmes and promotion of voluntary compliance.
The introduction of preventive approaches such as the Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Point System (HACCP), have resulted in industry taking greater
responsibility for and control of food safety risks. Such an integrated approach
facilitates improved consumer protection, effectively stimulates agriculture and
the food processing industry, and promotes domestic and international food
trade.

3.2 Global
Considerations

(a) International Trade

With an expanding world economy, liberalization of food trade,
growing consumer demand, developments in food science and technology, and
improvements in transport and communication, international trade in fresh and
processed food will continue to increase.

Access of countries to food export markets will continue to
depend on their capacity to meet the regulatory requirements of importing
countries. Creating and sustaining demand for their food products in world
markets relies on building the trust and confidence of importers and consumers
in the integrity of their food systems. With agricultural production the focal
point of the economies of most developing countries, such food protection
measures are essential.

(b) Codex Alimentarius
Commission

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an
intergovernmental body that coordinates food standards at the international
level. Its main objectives are to protect the health of consumers and ensure
fair practices in food trade. The CAC has proved to be most successful in
achieving international harmonization in food quality and safety requirements.
It has formulated international standards for a wide range of food products and
specific requirements covering pesticide residues, food additives, veterinary
drug residues, hygiene, food contaminants, labelling etc. These Codex
recommendations are used by governments to determine and refine policies and
programmes under their national food control system. More recently, Codex has
embarked on a series of activities based on risk assessment to address
microbiological hazards in foods, an area previously unattended. Codex work has
created worldwide awareness of food safety, quality and consumer protection
issues, and has achieved international consensus on how to deal with them
scientifically, through a risk-based approach. As a result, there has been a
continuous appraisal of the principles of food safety and quality at the
international level. There is increasing pressure for the adoption of these
principles at the national level. See Annex 4 for further details.

(c) SPS and TBT
Agreements

The conclusion of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade
Negotiations in Marrakech led to the establishment of the WTO on 1 January 1995,
and to the coming into force of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
(TBT). Both these Agreements are relevant in understanding the requirements for
food protection measures at the national level, and the rules under which food
is traded internationally.

The SPS Agreement confirms the right of WTO member countries
to apply measures to protect human, animal and plant life and health. The
Agreement covers all relevant laws, decrees, regulations; testing, inspection,
certification and approval procedures; and packaging and labelling requirements
directly related to food safety. Member States are asked to apply only those
measures for protection that are based on scientific principles, only to the
extent necessary, and not in a manner which may constitute a disguised
restriction on international trade. The Agreement encourages use of
international standards, guidelines or recommendations where they exist, and
identifies those from Codex (relating to food additives, veterinary drugs and
pesticide residues, contaminants, methods of analysis and sampling, and codes
and guidelines of hygienic practices), to be consistent with provisions of SPS.
Thus, the Codex standards serve as a benchmark for comparison of national
sanitary and phytosanitary measures. While it is not compulsory for Member
States to apply Codex Standards, it is in their best interests to harmonize
their national food standards with those elaborated by Codex.

The TBT Agreement requires that technical regulations on
traditional quality factors, fraudulent practices, packaging, labelling etc
imposed by countries will not be more restrictive on imported products than they
are on products produced domestically. It also encourages use of international
standards. See Annex 5 for further details.