Page 336 - Biosystems Engineering

Food Safety Management 313

responsibility of all those involved along the food chain from pri-
mary production to final preparation and final human consumption.
The main EU food safety regulation, Regulation EC 178/2002, resulted
in the establishment of the European Food Safety Authority and
established the common basis for food law in EU member states. The
regulation also includes common definitions, general provisions, and
specific requirements for food safety. The regulation aims to provide
guiding principles and objectives for the food/feed industry for
human health protection while ensuring safe and effective trading
between member states.
Regulation 178 also has specific requirements for risk analysis,
feed and food importation, public consultation, traceability, and gen-
eral safety requirements for food and feed. In particular, under the
general principles of the food law and Article 6, it states that food law
shall be based on risk analysis. As a regulation, the provisions are
directly applicable to member states without the need to be transposed
into national legislation. The regulation also establishes in EU law the
three interrelated components of risk analysis (risk assessment, risk
management, and risk communication) as the basis for food law and
sets requirements for traceability procedures for food and feedstuffs.
Regulation EC 852/2004 lays down general rules for food business
operators on the hygiene of foodstuffs, with particular emphasis on the
necessity for establishing microbiological criteria and temperature-
control requirements based on a scientific risk assessment. Also, food
business operators need to ensure that any imported food is equiva-
lent or better than that produced within the EU. The regulation lays
down general hygiene requirements to be respected by food busi-
nesses at all stages of the food chain. The regulation must be imple-
mented by all food businesses that have a responsibility to ensure
that all the requirements are properly implemented in order to pro-
mote food safety.
Regulation EC 2073/2005 lays down microbiological criteria for
certain microorganisms and implementation rules to be complied
with by food business operators when implementing general and
specific hygiene measures. For food businesses dealing with prod-
ucts of animal origin (meat, fish, shellfish, milk, and associated prod-
ucts), there is also the need to comply with Regulation EC 853/2004,
which generally applies to wholesale activities.
The new EU food safety regulations ensure that national and
international food safety laws and best practices are based on risk
analysis. Risk analysis provides a framework from which foodborne
hazards can be monitored and the identification of emerging risks
can be clarified. WHO/FAO provide a comprehensive framework for
food safety risk analysis. Risk assessment (the evaluation component
of risk analysis) can be used to assist in identifying hazards, critical
control points, and establishing critical limits for the HACCP plan.