Abstract

Are We Prepared for the Challenges Related to Food Safety and Quality in 2020?

Elke Anklam, Director Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, European Commission

Consumers request enough safe and nutritious food which are also the pre-requisite for a healthy diet. The European Union has established an appropriate food and feed safety and quality control framework to be implemented by Member States’ control laboratories. Those need to follow harmonised procedures and the results obtained need to be trustable, reproducible and of high quality. Whenever possible, methods used should be internationally validated and standardised. However, the challenges in the food safety and nutrition framework are manifold due to e.g.: • Increasing globalisation of trade in food and feed and complexity of the food chain • Worldwide increasing demand of certain food products and diversification of diets and lifestyles • Increasing competition for key resources such as land, fertilisers, water • Increasing risks due to disease transmission from animals and humans and potentially new production technologies • New agri-food chain structures including demand for organic and regional products with an increasing likelihood of frauds. Official food control needs to keep pace with the challenges ahead, especially on those in the area of food authenticity control to prevent frauds. This presentation will demonstrate some of the critical challenges to be expected in respect to food safety and quality control and its legislative framework.