Food alert systems: are they effective?
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 5:58 am
This week, Arancha Bocanegra , professor of the Master in Food Safety Management at Bureau Veritas Training , talks to us about the importance of food alert networks to avoid putting consumers' health at risk.
The value of global food trade has almost tripled in the last decade and the FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, predicts that it will continue to grow despite the geopolitical and climatic situation.Overall, this increase is seen to have contributed to the redistribution of resources , but an increasingly intense exchange of these products means that, in turn, potential existing risks spread more quickly.
Ensuring that exchanges are carried out safely and that the food itself does not put consumers' health at risk is therefore essential, and in this context, food alert networks are a basic tool. These systems allow for rapid exchange of information between the competent authorities by being constantly vigilant against any food risk or incident, with special attention to the most serious ones.
Zero risk does not exist
Despite close surveillance, a food alert was issued in Europe this summer concerning a substance not authorised for use in food-producing animals: fipronil , which was detected in eggs and derivatives that bitcoin data had been distributed in more than 19 Member States. In light of this incident, the following questions arise: what is the point of Food Alert Systems? Are they really not that effective?
The truth is that surveillance from the networks once again shows that zero risk does not exist. Moreover, there are currently certain emerging risks that appear in the annual reports issued at Spanish and European level, among which pesticide residues, allergens and materials in contact with food stand out. This fact forces Food Safety Management Systems to remain in a state of continuous improvement.
Thus, it must be determined that alert systems are indeed effective, but they are not the most directly responsible for food safety. Their organization in the form of a network allows for the prompt location of the products that have generated the alert and the adoption of the necessary measures for their immediate withdrawal, thus preventing them from reaching the consumer.
Now, since we know that zero risk does not exist, it would be desirable to maximize the attention and effort from the food company to achieve the attenuation of serious risks to health and so that food alert systems really act as what they are: basic tools for the official control of food that also allow the evaluation of the efficiency of the Food Safety Management Systems of food companies.
In order for the alert system to be fully effective, food companies play an important role as marketers of food. Thus, if there is reason to suspect that the food under their responsibility is unsafe, they must immediately inform the health authorities, cooperate with them and withdraw the affected food from the market in order to reduce the risks. If necessary, the food company will also be obliged to keep consumers informed of the reasons for the withdrawal of its product from the market and will even take back any items that have been distributed.
For all these reasons, and as established by European regulations through the hygiene package, the direct legal persons responsible for food safety are the “operators” of food companies. However, Food Safety Management Systems are key elements to achieve maximum food safety.
The value of global food trade has almost tripled in the last decade and the FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, predicts that it will continue to grow despite the geopolitical and climatic situation.Overall, this increase is seen to have contributed to the redistribution of resources , but an increasingly intense exchange of these products means that, in turn, potential existing risks spread more quickly.
Ensuring that exchanges are carried out safely and that the food itself does not put consumers' health at risk is therefore essential, and in this context, food alert networks are a basic tool. These systems allow for rapid exchange of information between the competent authorities by being constantly vigilant against any food risk or incident, with special attention to the most serious ones.
Zero risk does not exist
Despite close surveillance, a food alert was issued in Europe this summer concerning a substance not authorised for use in food-producing animals: fipronil , which was detected in eggs and derivatives that bitcoin data had been distributed in more than 19 Member States. In light of this incident, the following questions arise: what is the point of Food Alert Systems? Are they really not that effective?
The truth is that surveillance from the networks once again shows that zero risk does not exist. Moreover, there are currently certain emerging risks that appear in the annual reports issued at Spanish and European level, among which pesticide residues, allergens and materials in contact with food stand out. This fact forces Food Safety Management Systems to remain in a state of continuous improvement.
Thus, it must be determined that alert systems are indeed effective, but they are not the most directly responsible for food safety. Their organization in the form of a network allows for the prompt location of the products that have generated the alert and the adoption of the necessary measures for their immediate withdrawal, thus preventing them from reaching the consumer.
Now, since we know that zero risk does not exist, it would be desirable to maximize the attention and effort from the food company to achieve the attenuation of serious risks to health and so that food alert systems really act as what they are: basic tools for the official control of food that also allow the evaluation of the efficiency of the Food Safety Management Systems of food companies.
In order for the alert system to be fully effective, food companies play an important role as marketers of food. Thus, if there is reason to suspect that the food under their responsibility is unsafe, they must immediately inform the health authorities, cooperate with them and withdraw the affected food from the market in order to reduce the risks. If necessary, the food company will also be obliged to keep consumers informed of the reasons for the withdrawal of its product from the market and will even take back any items that have been distributed.
For all these reasons, and as established by European regulations through the hygiene package, the direct legal persons responsible for food safety are the “operators” of food companies. However, Food Safety Management Systems are key elements to achieve maximum food safety.