Food safety

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

Food safety (also: food hygiene ) is an umbrella term for all measures and concepts that are intended to ensure that food is suitable for consumption by the end consumer and that it does not cause any health impairments or damage.

Methods

Controls and preventive measures to maintain hygiene during production and handling of food, as well as the integrity of the products with regard to contaminants or residues, are also part of the generic term of food safety, as is the traceability of the products and their components, which should ensure that the consumer when recognizing a hazard z. B. is protected as comprehensively as possible through product recalls .

Food safety in the European Union

With the Directive 93/43 / EEC of 14 June 1993 on the hygiene of foodstuffs laid down the general rules of hygiene for foodstuffs and the procedures for verification of compliance. With the food basic regulation with direct application for the first time European Union General principles regulated to food law and security and the European Food Safety Authority ( European Food Safety Authority established EFSA). Since 1 January 2006, declared Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (unofficial name: EC LebensmittelhygieneVO). For the common market in its annexes closer executed General hygiene requirements for food business of primary production (Annex I) and in all subsequent production, Processing and distribution stages of foodstuffs (Annex II) are binding. It requires food business operators to have constant procedures for risk analysis and critical control points and defines the principles of these HACCP procedures in more detail . It regulates the elaboration and application of Community guidelines for good hygiene practice ( GHP ) and the HACCP principles, particularly on the basis of the Codex Alimentarius, and requires the member states to promote national GHP and HACCP guidelines.

With many other regulations on hygiene through to labeling , the regulations on food safety have been standardized and harmonized. The EU food safety almanac prepared by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) provides an overview of the structures and institutions of food monitoring in the European Union , the member states and their neighboring countries .

Situation in Germany

In Germany, for calling German Food and Feed Act related food hygiene regulations , the application of a HACCP system's.

The Main Association of German Retailers (HDE) has - together with foreign sister organizations - established the International Featured Standard (IFS), to which private label food manufacturers are in fact subject. Certification companies such as DQS or TÜV Cert check whether these food producers meet the requirements of the extensive IFS questionnaire, i.e. are able to produce safe, high-quality and marketable food. Almost all manufacturers of food for private labels have such certification.

The hygiene center based in Münster is the first privately organized hygiene center in Germany for the food industry.

In Germany, the federal states, with their respective ministries, are the highest state authorities responsible for food safety. The official food control , depending on the federal state at the municipal or state level, controls compliance with food safety regulations through random checks. The highest federal authority is the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture . In Germany, the area of ​​food safety is divided between two subordinate authorities at the federal level: the scientific risk assessment and risk communication are carried out by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR); risk management is separate from this. The Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) is responsible for this, especially as a hub between the federal states and the European Community .

See also : Task Force Food Safety Hessen

Education

In Germany, food safety in the context of consumer protection is the core competence of the state-certified food chemist . Veterinarians are an important part of the control, particularly in the area of ​​testing food from animal sources . Both professional groups are approved as private cross-checking experts in accordance with the cross-checking regulation.

Since 2011, there has also been a food safety course in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as a dual course at the Berufsakademie Sachsen - Staatliche Studienakademie Plauen.This course was previously a diploma course (BA) and will be offered as a six-semester practice-integrated dual bachelor's course from the 2015/16 winter semester. In addition to food microbiology and hygiene, the content of the course also includes food sensors, food analysis, quality assurance and quality management. In the 2015/2016 winter semester, a further bachelor's degree in food safety will start in the state of Hesse at the Geisenheim University and in cooperation with the private University of Fresenius . This six-semester course with a Bachelor of Science degree is dedicated to the main topics of microbiological and chemical analysis , food technology , quality management and food law .

See also

• Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office
• Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety
• European Food Safety Authority
• Hungarian Food Safety Office

Web links

• public lecture series of the Food and Health Academy Hamburg: Safe food - but safe! , Reiner Wittkowski , Federal Institute for Risk Assessment , Berlin
• Website of the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety
• Food safety , Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)
• Food safety statistics and reports , Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO)
• Food Safety , FDA
• Lebensmittelklarheit.de , Federal Association of Consumer Centers and Consumer Associations - Federal Consumer Association eV (vzbv)
• EFSA website
  • EFSA: Climate Change and Food Safety

Individual evidence

1. ↑ No official name of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 28, 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures for food safety , Retrieved May 19, 2013 .
2. ↑ Art. 5 Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 29, 2004 on food hygiene (pdf, consolidated version 2009)
3. ↑ Art. 8 Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on national guidelines, Art. 9 on Community guidelines, Art. 9 Para. 2 c) relating to Codex Alimentarius
4. ↑ Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture: Safe Food .
5. ↑ Ordinance on the admission of private counter-sample experts and on regulations for official counter-samples at Rechts-im-Internet.de.
6. ↑ Contents of the dual study program in food safety ( memento of the original from 23 September 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ Geisenheim University: New courses for more food quality .
8. ↑ Hochschule Fresenius: Cooperative study course in food safety ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.