The European Union (EU) food safety system

Abstract

The principles, procedures, organisation and scientific basis of the European Union food/feed safety system have been effectively modernised by Regulation (EC) 178/2002 and subsequent regulations. Reg. 178/2002 also established the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), an independent scientific agency competent for risk assessment in the food/feed chain and risk communication in the European Union. Moreover, since 2002, a very intensive regulatory process has been activated by the European Commission in at least four main sectors: (i) food/feed hygiene packaging, (ii) consumer information, (iii) intentionally added substances to food or feed and (iv) non-intentionally added substances to food or feed. This paper describes the main characters of this overall regulatory and institutional process that, over about 10 years, has substantially improved the food safety system in the European Union and has proven to be very capable of coping with urgent and emergency issues. Moreover, the main results obtained by the EFSA in its first 10 years of activity in terms of both innovative methodologies and opinions on specific issues and the complexities of the mechanisms put in place to ensure its independence are also addressed.