Dimension D “Science/knowledge base and continuous improvement” reviews the necessary features for the system to build scientific soundness, incorporate risk analysis principles and keep abreast of new scientific developments and innovations to continuously improve. It explores how CAs anchor their decisions on relevant scientific and technical information, reviews the robustness of information collection processes as a foundation for risk analysis, and assesses the use made of this risk analysis framework to handle food safety risks. It also revolves around competent authorities’ capacity to review and improve performance, taking into consideration the most recent scientific and technical knowledge, to ensure the achievement of relevant outcomes.

While the regulatory arm (policy and legal basis supported by official control functions) is usually what comes first to mind when reflecting about a national food control system, the “non-regulatory” components of that system also need to be taken into consideration.Dimension C “Ïnteraction with stakeholders” identifies the interactions that must take place for the system to regularly adjust to national and international stakeholders’ evolving needs, to inspire confidence to stakeholders and to keep them well informed about their responsibilities. It focuses on the transparency of communication to consumers and on the food business operators and their integration into the food control system. It also explores the interactions of competent authorities at international level to support national imports and exports, and...

Dimension B “Control Functions” focuses on the processes and the outputs of the control activities inherent to a national food control system. It reviews the control functions exercised by CAs over Food Business Operators (FBOs), be it at domestic, import or export level, to guarantee food safety and quality for national consumers along the food chain and fair trade practices. It also maps the control functions and mechanisms at the overall food supply level, necessary to identify, monitor, predict and handle food safety hazards and emerging risks and to deal with food emergencies. The main mechanisms that should be in place include data collection programmes on food products (also referred to as monitoring programmes), data collection programmes on foodborne diseases...

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections are a substantial public health issue worldwide. Circa 2010, foodborne STEC caused more than 1 million illnesses, 128 deaths and 13 000 Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) annually. To appropriately target interventions to prevent STEC infections transmitted through food, it is important to determine the specific types of foods leading to these illnesses. This report conducted an analysis of data from STEC foodborne outbreak investigations reported globally, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies of sporadic STEC infections published for all dates and locations. This work was undertaken in response to a request from the Codex Alimentarius Commission to support the development of the international standards on foodborne STEC. The advice herein is useful...

This document contains food additive specification monographs, analytical methods, and other information prepared at the eighty-seventh meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which was held in Rome, 4–13 June 2019. The tasks before the Committee were (a) to elaborate principles governing the evaluation of food additives, (b) to undertake safety evaluations of certain food additives, (c) to review and prepare specifications for certain food additives and (d) to establish specifications for certain flavouring agents. The Committee evaluated the safety of six food additives (including one group of food additives) and revised the specifications for five other food additives (including one group of food additives) and nine flavouring agents. This publication contains information that is useful...

Food safety regulatory authorities are responsible for safeguarding health and fair trade of food by ensuring that food distributed meets relevant food standards. To achieve this, sound food safety policies and risk management activities are required to ensure that food safety issues of highest importance are identified and appropriate control measures are implemented. The Principles of Risk-Based Meat Inspection and their Application presents key general principles and highlights the minimum requirements for a properly functioning Risk-Based Meat Inspection system. It is primarily designed for senior management, heads of meat inspection services and competent authorities responsible for decision-making on the establishment of policies and standards, the design and management of inspection programmes, and equivalence agreements with trading partners. It also targets...

The main objective of the tool is to propose a harmonized, objective and consensual basis to analyse the performance of a national food control system. It is intended to be used by countries as a supporting basis for self-assessment to identify priority areas of improvement and plan sequential and coordinated activities to reach expected outcomes, and by repeating the assessment on a regular basis, countries can monitor their progresses. The Tool is based on Codex principles and Guidelines for National Food Control Systems as well as other relevant Codex guidance for food control systems, which are referenced throughout the document. Its scope is given by the dual objectives quoted in Codex guidance for these systems: protect health of consumers and...

Water is a major input in food, from primary production through all stages in the food value chain to consumption. The safest option in food production might be the use of water only of potable or drinking water quality; however, this is often not a feasible, practical or responsible solution and water of different quality could be fit for some purposes, provided it does not compromise the safety of the final product for the consumer. When used alone, numbers of E. coli present in water are not an appropriate measure of water safety. Instead, an assessment of the fitness-for-purpose and the microbiological criteria of water required to maintain product safety should be risk-based. Decision trees and matrices were developed to...

A meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12 to 21 June 2018. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate certain food additives (including flavouring agents).

Fish fraud is committed when fish is illegally placed on the market with the intention of deceiving the customer, usually for financial gain. However, its precise scale and nature in the wider global food market is largely unknown. This publication presents evidence highlighting the serious consequences of fraud for the fish sector. It describes the different types of fraud that can take place along the fish supply chain, for example: intentional mislabelling, species substitution, overglazing and overbreading, and the use of undeclared water-binding agents to increase weight. This publication shows that combating fish fraud is a complex task that requires the strengthening of national food regulatory programmes and the development of effective, science-based traceability systems and improved methods for fish...