The new EU Food Law – Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 – establishes the general principles and requirements of food law, establishes the European Food Safety Authority, and lays down procedures in matters of food safety.
By food business, we mean any undertaking, whether for profit or not, whether public or private, carrying out any of the stages of:
• production
• processing, and
• distribution of food.
• processing, and
• distribution of food.
The regulation states that Food Law should focus on ensuring the protection of consumers’ interests and provide consumers with a basis for making informed choices in relation to the food they consume. This is intended to prevent: fraudulent or deceptive practices, the adulteration of food, or any other practices which may mislead the consumer.
This applies to both food and feedstuffs imported by the community, as well as those exported by it.
Article 14 concerns food safety requirements and states that:
1. Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe.
2. Food shall be deemed to be unsafe if it is considered to be:
(a) injurious to health,
(b) unfit for human consumption.
In the case of feed, it shall be deemed to be unsafe for its intended use if it is considered to have an adverse effect on human or animal health, or if it makes the food derived from food-producing animals unsafe for human consumption. Where any food or feed which is unsafe is part of a batch, lot or consignment of food or feed of the same class or description, it shall be presumed that all the food or feed in that batch, lot or consignment is also unsafe.
Article 17 refers to responsibilities and states that food and feed business operators at all stages of production, processing and distribution within the businesses under their control shall ensure that foods or feeds satisfy the requirements of food law and shall verify that such requirements are met.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2004.