The ability to effectively manage food safety and quality is a key step in safeguarding the health and well-being of people and gaining access to domestic, regional and international markets. In Tanzania, a number of institutions work with smallholders and small businesses to improve food safety along value chains. Building the food safety capacity of these institutions was considered a priority by the National Food Safety Task Force who requested FAO to implement a series of training of trainers courses on internationally recognized, Codex-based systems of food safety and quality management under the One UN initiative which is part of the United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP).The full set of Highlights on FAO food safety and quality activities is available...

Risk based approaches to food safety management are well accepted, yet the evidence and scientific basis to support such an approach is often lacking. This is the case for many developing countries. For example, limited information is available on the food chemical hazards which might be of concern in sub-Saharan Africa. While the approaches used by national governments to get the required information may vary, one of those approaches promoted and endorsed by FAO/WHO is the Total Diet Study (TDS) approach. The TDS is considered to be the most cost-effective means of assessing the safety and nutritional quality of the diet by monitoring chemicals, such as pesticides and heavy metals, in foods to estimate dietary exposures and to characterize associated...

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites produced by several fungal species of moulds. Under certain environmental conditions, the species that produce mycotoxins can grow on a wide range of agricultural commodities including important staples such as maize and sorghum, and high value commodities such as coffee and cocoa. The full set of Highlights on FAO food safety and quality activities is available at the following Url: http://www.fao.org/3/a-au638e/index.html.

Accounting for 83% of total agricultural exports, food products are, in value, the third commodity group traded internationally, behind fuels and non pharmaceutical chemical products. A number of countries, including many developing countries, import a significant share of the food supply for their population. Some of them almost entirely rely on food imports to ensure food security. While developing their food imports, countries have progressively set up inspection measures, in order to protect the health of their populations and ensure fair practices in trade. However, over time, the higher volumes of imported foods, together with the diversification of origin and growing complexity of the technologies used for manufactured foods, have called for a revision of these control measures. Relying on...

National food control systems play a pivotal role in protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in trade. While the Codex Alimentarius provides the Principles and guidelines for National Food Control Systems (CAC/GL 82-2003), countries are free to determine how to best design their food control system and implement specific control measures. These systems must fit the specific national situations (e.g. appropriate level of public health protection; legal and institutional set up; availability of support services, such as analytical resources, etc) therefore no two systems are alike. However, whatever the architecture of the national food control system, measuring its effectiveness is universally important to verify that resources are being well-used and to inform plans for further strengthening of...

This Chemical and Technical Assessment summarizes data and information on Benzoe tonkinensis submitted to JECFA by Agroforex Company in a dossier dated September 2010, an Activity Report of May, 2011, Complementary Data, December, 2012 and a Report of January 2014. The intended use of Benzoe Tonkinensis is as a food flavouring agent.

The FAO GM Foods Platform is a simple online platform for Codex Members to share information on safety assessments of foods derived from recombinant-DNA plants authorized in accordance with the Codex "Guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of foods derived from recombinant-DNA plants" (CAC/GL 45-2003, annex III adopted in 2008). The full set of Highlights on FAO food safety and quality activities is available at the following Url: http://www.fao.org/3/a-au638e/index.html.

Food security is commonly understood as the state when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Conceptually, food security is built upon four pillars including food availability, access, utilization and stability. Within this framework, food safety is often wrongly assumed as a given. However, in places where food supplies are insufficient, coping mechanisms to address food insecurity are often primarily focused on access to food without due considerations for safety. Even in more food-secure countries, limited resources are diverted to ensure the safety of exported food products at the expense of food sold domestically. Individuals facing...