Early awareness of emerging risks associated with food and feed production: Synopsis of pertinent work carried out within the SAFE FOODS project

• Published in: Food and chemical toxicology Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 911 - 914
• Main Authors: Marvin, H.J.P., Kleter, G.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2009
• Subjects: Animal Feed - standards; Animals; Consumer Product Safety; Early warning; Emerging issues; Environmental Monitoring - methods; European Union; Food Contamination - legislation & jurisprudence; Food Contamination - prevention & control; Food Microbiology; Food safety; Food Supply - legislation & jurisprudence; Food Supply - standards; Hazardous chemicals; Humans; Microbial pathogens; Product Surveillance, Postmarketing - methods; RIKILT - Business Unit Safety & Health; RIKILT - Business Unit Veiligheid & Gezondheid; Risk Assessment; EU; FHB; DON; RASFF; Microbial pathogens; Hazardous chemicals; Emerging issues; Early warning; Food safety
• ISSN: 0278-6915; 1873-6351
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2009.02.010

This introduction to the journal’s supplement on emerging food and feed safety issues summarizes the objectives and activities of the EU-funded SAFE FOODS project in general and its work package focusing on the early identification of emerging food safety risks, in particular. Within this work package, a number of studies have been carried out on methods enabling the early awareness, identification, and prevention of emerging issues before they can become real risks. The various reviews in this supplement explore the background of the emergence of known food safety risks, both of microbial and chemical/biochemical nature, as well the methods that can be used to identify such risks. Another review identifies a number of chemical and microbiological hazards that are likely to be affected by a changing climate. A major conclusion from these explorative reviews is that monitoring and information exchange systems or procedures are in place to detect, in an early phase, the emergence of potential food safety risks linked to known hazards. Additional systems are needed to predict the development of new potential food safety risks, which are linked to either new hazards or known hazards to which exposure has been altered.