The concept of food safety refers to the availability like with the access of food in quantity and sufficient quality. Food safety comprises four dimensions:

  1. Availability (interior production, capacity of importation, storage and food aid)

  2. Access (depends on the purchasing power and the infrastructure available)
  3. Stabilité (of the infrastructures but also climatic stability and policy)
  4. Salubrité, quality (hygiene, mainly access to water)

Food safety exceeds the concept of self-sufficiency food.

The concept of food safety is however to distinguish from that of Public health of the food, which milked with hygiene, the healthiness and the harmlessness of food.

History of the concept of food safety

According to the United Nations for the food and agriculture (FAO) the concept of food safety appeared in the Seventies. It evolved of rather quantitative and economic considerations to a definition taking account of qualitative and human dimension.

Thus a definition of 1975

  • Capacity from time immemorial to supply the world in basic commodities, to support a growth of food consumption, while controlling the fluctuations and the prices (UNO, 1975).
and a definition of 1990.
  • capacity to ensure that the food system provides to all the population a food provisioning nutritionnellement adequate on the long run (STAATZ, 1990).

This evolution of the design influenced the strategies preached by FAO to ensure food safety for all, and in particular the countries of the South.

Sufficient quantity and necessary

During second half of the XXe century, the world food production per capita increased by 25%, whereas the prices decreased by approximately 40%. For example, between 1960 and 1990, the total production of Céréale S passed from 420 to 1.176 million tons per annum.

However, food safety remains of topicality at the beginning of XXIe century. In spite of the fall of Fertility observed in the majority of the countries, some estimate that there should be approximately 8,9 billion inhabitants in 2050. In 2000,790 million people in the world suffered from the Faim. The inhabitants of 33 countries consume less than 2.200 kcal per day.

It is generally allowed that the food needs will increase in the decades to come for the following reasons:

  • increase in the Population what implies an increase in demand;
  • increase in the Purchasing power the many human ones;
  • increase in the Urbanization, frequently implying a change of the food Practical , in particular an increase in the consumption of Meat (one estimates that 7 kg of food for animals are necessary to produce 1 kg of Bœuf, 4 kg to produce a Porc and 2 kg for a Volaille).

Of course, a sufficient and well managed offer is an essential condition to make disappear the Famine and the Malnutrition.

However, food safety is not necessarily acquired when the food offer is sufficient, and poses questions such as “which produces the food”, “which has access to the necessary informations with the agricultural production” and “which has a sufficient purchasing power to acquire food” and finally, “which has a sufficient purchasing power to acquire the necessary informations with good production”.

Thus, the poor and the famished ones need technologies and practices inexpensive and available immediately to increase the local food production. Generally, the women and the children are those which suffer the most food deficit. Indeed, a weak weight of birth is a cause of premature Décès and malnutrition infantile. The weak weight with the birth is often due to a Sous-alimentation of the mother itself.

In 2000,27% of the preschool childs in the Pays in the process of development were thus reached of Rachitisme (related to an insufficient and/or little varied food and of low quality. The women are also often handicapped, because they have few grounds and profit less councils and appropriations for the improvement from the techniques.

Various options are possible to increase the agricultural production, by the means of agricultural adoption of specific systems of production:

  • increase in the agricultural surfaces (with like negative effect the loss of forest surfaces, the meadow S, and generally, of places rich in Biodiversity);
  • increase in the productivity (quantity to the hectare) in the exporting countries (and export of the surpluses towards the overdrawn countries);
  • increase in the total productivity in the overdrawn countries, which will be able to become self-sufficing.

The perish-urban Agriculture or the urban Agriculture can also help to solve the problem of food safety, while allowing the townsmen with incomes limited to cultivate Légume S or Fruit S for example, into full Ville. It also makes it possible to ensure better a conservation Aliment S and of their nutritional qualities.

Quality sufficient and necessary

The quality requires to have identified the Risque S and Danger S and to take the measures of precaution and of evaluation to limit as long as to make the expression of the risks may be (for example, of Food poisoning

In Europe, the Directive 93/43/CE relating to the Hygiène of the foodstuffs recommends the method HACCP (Analysis of the dangers and points critical for their control) so as to " to identify any aspect determining for the safety of food and to take care that suitable procedures of safety are established, implemented, respected and updated .

The new European regulation known as “package hygiene” aims at preventing the dangers with an obligation of result, " of the fork to the fork " , while leaving more freedom to the persons in charge of establishments of Production or Restoration on the means of arriving there. The guides of good practices set up by the professional dies, with or without the assistance of administrations can also contribute to it, just as the Standards and reference frames used by the agroalimentary one (BRC, YEWS, ISO 22000, Eurepgap, standard NF V0 1-002 including a “Glossary on the Hygiene of Food”, booklet of documentation FD VO1-OO6 (“System HACCP: principles, basic concepts and comments”).

However, these tools, methods and guides are interprêtés various manners, sometimes in contradiction with the Codex alimentarius which is the principal international reference. ”

See too

External bonds

  • Concept of food safety by FAO
  • remote Formation on food safety by FAO
  • Methods, reference frames, regulations and standards food
  • Gate Public health and food for the European Union
  • Official site of [[World food program]] the

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