European Legisolation on Food Safety Valentina Bagozzi, Confartigianato

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European Legisolation on Food SafetyValentina
Bagozzi, Confartigianato
PHARE Business Support Programme of the European
Union UEAPME - SME FIT II
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EU Food market some figures

• The EU market
• 370 millions of consumers
• is the worlds largest importer of food
• has the worlds first food processing industry
• Food and Feed safety is a top priority in
  Europe

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Food safety policy development

• Legal framework for food safety legislation
• Art.3 Rome Treaty
• Free movement of products within the common
  market
• First step of legislation from 70s to 90s
• Foodstuff crysis in 90s BSE (mad cow
  deseases, dioxin-contaminated feed )

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Food safety policy development

• White Book on Food Safety
• sets a new strategic approach
• Food safety legal framework applies to the whole
  chain ( from farm to fork)
• Food safety is a primary responsibility of the
  production business
• Consumers right to make choices based on
  complete information about where food has come
  from and what it contains
• Action to enforce the rules and control the
  processes

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UMBRELLA legislation from 2000-2006

• General food law Regulation 178/2002
• Hygiene package Regulations
• 852/2004 on food hygiene
• 853/2004 on food of animal origin
• 854/2004 rules for official controls on pr. of
  animal origin
• 183/2005 on feed hygiene
• 882/2004 on official controls- feed and food law
• Food labelling Directive 2000/13
• GMO regulations- Regulation 1829/2003 1830/2003
• Packaging and food contact materials- Regulation
  1935/2004
• Nutritional labelling- Regulation 1924/2006

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Traceability

• means the ability to trace and follow a food,
  feed, food-producing animal or substance intended
  to be incorporated into a food or feed
• at all stages of production ( production,
  processing and distribution)
• downstream traceability being able to identify
  any business from whom they have been supplied
  with a food item
• upstream traceability being able to identify
  any business to which their products have been
  supplied

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General food law Regulation 178/2002

• Definitions of food and feed
• Covers the primary production including feed
  production and handling
• Forbids food to be placed on the market if it is
  unsafe
• Puts the responsibility on the food business
  operator (shall ensure that foods or feed satisfy
  the requirements of food law which are relevant
  to their activities)
• sets traceability of relevant product
• Foresees withdraw/ recall food/feed not in
  compliance with the food/feed safety requirements
• Sets up EFSA

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Import-Export Equivalence

• The rules apply, whether our food is produced in
  the EU or is imported from elsewhere in the world
• imported or exported food and feed shall comply
  with the relevant requirements of food law or
  conditions recognized by the EU to be al least
  equivalent with requirements of a specific
  agreement between EU and the exporting country

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Assessing the risk the precautionary principle

• Before taking a policy decision about whether a
  food or feed product is safe to eat or whether to
  allow a particular ingredient or additive, the EU
  looks at the scientific advice.
• In managing the risk, the EU applies the
  precautionary principle if there are
  reasonable grounds for suspecting there is a
  problem, the Commission acts to limit the risk.
  It does not necessarily need to wait for proof
  that there really is a risk
• The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is
  responsible for advising the EU institutions, and
  in particular the European Commission, on all
  scientific aspects of food and feed production,
  processing and marketing.

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Food and Feed Hygiene package

• Covers the primary production up to and including
  placing on the market and export
• Any food business along the food chain shall
• Adopt procedures necessary to achieve targets of
  the Reg. laid down in
• Annex I General Hyg. measures for the primary
  production (post harvest treatment, trasport,
  storage of raw products)
• Annex II General Hyg. measures for all other
  stages of food chain (all food processors and
  distributors)
• Develop procedures according to HACCP principles
• All food facilities of a food business business
  operator shall be notified to relevant local
  competent authorities

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HACCP principles

• Food businesses must identify each point in the
  production process critical to food safety.
• Once that is done, they must put in place,
  maintain and constantly review their safety
  procedures.
• HACCP principles is mandatory for the food
  processors and recommended in the primary
  production
• Some exemptions are allowed for smaller
  producers, or those in remote areas serving local
  markets, as the cost of these measures could be a
  threat to the survival of their business.
  Producers who are exempted from the hygiene rules
  can only sell their produce locally and only if
  the label indicates that normal rules do not
  apply.

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Labelling Directive 2000/13

• The Directive applies to pre-packaged foodstuffs
  to be delivered to the final consumer or to
  restaurants, hospitals, canteens and other
  similar mass caterers
• It does not apply to products intended for
  export outside the Community.
• Labelling is regarded as a tool to protect
  consumers health

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Labelling Directive 2000/13

• Labelling
• shall enable the consumer to make his choice in
  full knowledge of the facts, informing and
  protecting the consumer
• shall not mislead the purchaser as to the
  characteristics of the foodstuff
• shall not attribute to the foodstuff effects or
  properties which it does not possess

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Compulsory Labelling Particulars

• The labelling of foodstuffs must include the
  following
• 1 Name under which the product is sold
• name laid down for the product by any relevant
  Community provisions or, in the absence of such
  provisions, in the legislative provisions of, or
  as generally used in, the Member State where the
  product is sold.
• 2. List of ingredients
• must show all ingredients in descending order of
  weight
• 3. The net quantity
• 4. The date of minimum durability or the "use by"
  date
• 5. The name or business name and address of the
  manufacturer or packager or of a seller
• the Member States shall be authorised, in
  respect of butter produced in their territory, to
  require only an indication of the manufacturer,
  packager or seller

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Labelling Allergen Declaration

• The presence of allergens must always be
  indicated on the labels using one of the ways
• By the name under which is sold
• Under the specific name on allergen e.g. Wheat
  flour
• Using the word contains e.g. contains soya
• List of Allergen updated periodically that must
  be written in the label even if theyre present
  in small quantity ( last revision in 2005)

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Labelling Allergen Declaration

• Cereals containing gluten ( i.e. wheat, rye,
  barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybridised
  strains) and products thereof
• Crustaceans and products thereof
• Eggs and products thereof
• Fish and products thereof
• Peanuts and products thereof
• Soybeans and products thereof
• Milk and products thereof (including lactose)

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Labelling Allergen Declaration

• Nuts i. e. Almond (Amygdalus communis L.),
  Hazelnut (Corylus avellana), Walnut (Juglans
  regia), Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), Pecan
  nut (Carya illinoiesis (Wangenh.) K. Koch),
  Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), Pistachio nut
  (Pistacia vera), Macadamia nut and Queensland nut
  (Macadamia ternifolia) and products thereof
• Celery and products thereof
• Mustard and products thereof
• Sesame seeds and products thereof
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations
  of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre expressed as
  SO2."

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Labelling Beef OGM Quinine and Caffeine

• Beef labels now have to show where the animal was
  born, reared, fattened, slaughtered and cut.
•  Consumers also want to know whether a food
  contains a genetically modified product and to
  see from the label whether a food ingredient
  might trigger an allergy other reasons for
  recent changes. If a food contains a GM product,
  or if a product derived from GM material was
  involved in producing it, then the label must say
  so.
• Special rules apply to certain foodstuffs. For
  example, the presence of quinine and caffeine in
  food must be clearly indicated.
• The challenge in designing modern food labelling
  rules is to strike a balance between giving
  consumers as much information as possible and not
  overloading the label with information that makes
  it difficult to read and understand

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GMO Labelling

• Food, food ingredients and feed labels must
  indicate if the product comes from or contains
  genetically modified material even when the use
  of the technology cannot be detected in the end
  product, as with some table oil .The only
  exceptions to the must label rule are where
  there is only a trace of genetically modified
  material which falls below a very low minimum
  content threshold. These thresholds acknowledge a
  reality with which the policy must work it is
  virtually impossible for any product to be 100 
  free of genetically modified material. Minute
  traces of GMOs or GM products can get into
  conventional food and feed during cultivation,
  harvest, transport or processing

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Beyond safety quality and diversity

• It promotes quality through EU and international
  standards, through voluntary quality labels and
  the use of terms describing the type or origin of
  food and drink.

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Beyond safety quality and diversity

• Protected designation of origin PDO means that
  the product has been produced, processed and
  prepared in a given geographical area using
  recognised know-how.
• Protected geographical indication PGI shows
  that, at some stage of its production, processing
  or preparation, this product has a link with a
  particular geographical area.
• Traditional speciality guaranteed TSG means
  that traditional production methods or
  ingredients have been used.
• Organic farming is the label for a product in
  which at least 95 of the ingredients have been
  organically produced

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Labelling

• Labelling of origin
• an Italian proposal to enhance protection of
  traditional foodstuffs
• Consists on the proposal to mention in the label
  the origin of the raw
• material used for the processing of the food
  stuff
• Consumers pays increasingly higher attention to 0
  km productions
• Consumers want to know if foodstuffs is really
  made in Italy or not

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Thank you!Relevant Databases for Relevant
Activity Valentina Bagozzi -
Confartigianatocontactsvalentina.bagozzi_at_confar
tigianato.it
PHARE Business Support Programme of the European
Union UEAPME - SME FIT II