Maintaining Food Safety and Quality to ensure Consumer Safety Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Masami Takeuchi, Ph.D.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO Headquarters Rome, Italy
FAO s mandate FOOD SECURITY
Definition of food security Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food [FAO World Food Summit, 1996]
Food safety: a global health issue?
A global view of infectious disease Infectious diseases are clinically evident transmissible or communicable diseases caused by a pathogenic biologial agent such as a bacterium, fungus, virus, or parasite that enters the body of a host organism and multiplies.
Top causes of death due to infectious disease world wide 4 billion cases of diarrhea every year 2.46 millions deaths From contaminated food and water Among those, 2.2 millions are occuring in developing countries Affecting mostly children under 5 years old
Food safety: a global agriculture issue?
Global trend Increased human population and demand for agri-food products Increased agri-food production and trade Increased urbanization Increased consumer awareness and demands More adverse food chain events, more risks? Changing climate, practices, environment, hazards, behaviors
High cost of food safety incidents Loss of life Public health (hospitalization, medicines) Producers/fermers, food industries (economic loss, loss of consumer confidence) Government authorities (economic loss and credibility impacted) Cost for trade disruption and food recalls
Aflatoxin in maize in Kenya (2004) 317 cases and 125 deaths
Salmonella in peanuts in US (2009) 3900 9 deaths, 22, 500 illnesses, enormous financial loss
Dioxin contamination of pork from Ireland (2008) Culling of 100, 000 pigs, destruction of 125 million euro worth of food, and total economic losses in excess of US$1 billion. All EU countries affected.
Melamine contamination of dairy products (2008) 6 deaths, 300, 000 illnesses and more than 115 types of contaminated food products globally
Food safety: consumer s right Consumers have the right to expect that the food available on domestic markets is safe and of the expected quality Government authorities with local industry and other relevant stakeholders must ensure that this expectation is met FAO assists government agencies in strengthening national food control systems
FAO food safety and quality 1. Codex Alimentarius secretariat 2. Provision of scientific advice on food safety 4. Emergency prevention system for food safety 3. Capacity development on food safety and quality
1. Codex Alimentarius Intergovernmental Standardssetting Body established by FAO and WHO in 1961/63 http://codexalimentarius.org/ Approx.180-190Member Countries + 1 Member Organization (European Community) Approx. 220 Observers
Two major objectives: Codex mandate Protecting the health of consumers Facilitating fair practices in food trade Non-mandatory in nature But Codex standards/texts: international benchmarks for WTO agreements
Commission (CAC) in Rome
2. Provision of scientific advice Scientifi c advice FAO/WHO Scientific advice team Scientific advice Requests Codex Alimentarius Standards guidelines Requests Requests, data, expertise Member countries SPS benchmark WTO International trade agreements
Food safety hazards Chemicals (JECFA, JMPR) Biological contaminants (JEMRA) Physical contaminants Others: biotechnology, nanotechnology, new issues
Ex. Risk analysis of nanotechnologies in food and agriculture FAO/WHO overview paper in 2009 Increased availabilty to consumers Nanoscale range (between 1 and 100 nm) may have different properties Feasibility check of applying existing food safety risk assessment paradigm Imperative to involve all stakeholders Status update in 2013 risk assessment and risk management practices in the world
3. Capacity development Based on country priorities and needs Build on existing strengths and resources Science-based Inclusive (farm to table) Sustainable
Ex. Trainings on risk analysis Risk assessment practical workshops on conducting national food safety risk assessment Risk management projects on developing/improving effective national food control systems Risk communication newly available handbook
4. Emergency Prevention System for Food Safety (EMPRES Food Safety) Emergencies can quickly spread due to rapid international food trade FAO focuses on prevention Early warning Emergency prevention (Rapid response) Tools: Framework for developing national food safety emergency response plans Rapid risk analysis guide Food recall guide Risk communication handbook Early warning handbook
Global tools FAO/WHO mycotoxin sampling tool http://www.fstools.org/mycotoxins/ FAO GM Foods Platform http://fao.org/gm-platform FAO/WHO Risk management tools for poultry safety http://www.fstools.org/poultryrmtool/ FAO/WHO Codex e-learning tool http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/capacitydevelopment/participation-codex/codex-course/ FAO Good hygiene practice along food chain http://www.sp-lab.net/fao/ghp2014/
Ex. Good hygiene practices along the food chain: practical resource
Researches, data, expertise needed in the area of food safety Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Chemical residue data (pesticides, vet drugs) together with exposure data Surveillance data on microbiological contamination in food and public health Impact of Codex guidelines/standards at national level Capacity development needs assessment Hot topics (reducing food waste, technologies to improve food safety, synthetic biology, whole genome sequencing of foodborne pathogens, etc)
FAO Food Safety Expert Roster For faculty members, post-docs, grad students Are you interested to provide food safety scientific advice to FAO? Are you interested to contribute to FAO projects including field missions? Access: http://fao.org/good/expertroster
For more information about FAO or its work on food safety FAO: http://fao.org/ Food safety and quality website:http://www.fao.org/food/foodquality-safety/ General queries to our unit: foodquality@fao.org Other questions (welcome!): Masami.Takeuchi@fao.org
Food safety and quality publications Or visit website: http://www.fao.org/food/f ood-quality-safety/
Questions? Thank you Merci Gracias 谢谢 Спасибо شكرا