Every entrepreneur is obliged to meet the requirements contained in both national and European legal acts. In the European Union, the primary legal act in the field of food and nutrition safety is Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which establishes the general principles and requirements of food law, establishes the European Food Safety Authority, and sets out procedures in matters of food safety.
Food-related matters, including those concerning its safety, are regulated by numerous other legal acts, among which Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs and Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin form the basis for establishing measures aimed at ensuring food safety in a food business.
One of the most important objectives of the legal acts regulating food-related issues is the protection of human health. Consequently, every food business operator, carrying out activities related to any stage of production, processing, and distribution of food, is legally required to ensure that food safety remains intact. According to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, the primary responsibility for food safety rests with the food business operator.
Legal regulations are one of the most important elements influencing the assurance of food safety, alongside official controls and the creation and implementation of food safety procedures by enterprises. According to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, “food” or “foodstuff” means any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans. These terms do not include feed, live animals, plants prior to harvesting, medicinal products, cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products, narcotic or psychotropic substances, residues, and contaminants. The concept of “food safety” is defined in the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety of August 25, 2006. It refers to the totality of conditions that must be met (concerning in particular: additives and flavorings used, levels of contaminants, pesticide residues, food irradiation conditions, organoleptic characteristics) and actions that must be taken at all stages of food production or trade to ensure human health and life. Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 prohibits the placing on the market of unsafe food, i.e., food that is injurious to health and unfit for human consumption due to contamination, e.g., by foreign matter or due to spoilage.
The article contains 18,000 characters.
Source: Logistyka Magazine