From mutual recognition to mutual scientific opinion? Constitutional framework for risk analysis in EU food safety law

Regulation 178/2002 (the so-called General Food Law – GFL) codifies risk analysis as the core principle of the modern food safety policy. This article places the GFL in EU multi-level food safety governance and analyses the impact of risk analysis, the precautionary principle and mechanisms of scientific governance introduced by the GFL on both national and Community legislation. It discusses the case law of the European Courts dealing with scientific evidence and the precautionary principle applied to both European and national food safety measures. The article concludes with some observations on the role of the risk analysis methodology in the Community internal market.     

Food safety issues: From Enlightened Elitism towards Deliberative Democracy? An overview of EFSA’s “Public Consultation” instrument

Following the BSE crisis, the importance of reassuring European consumers and involving them in debate about food safety management issues is generally recognised. Indeed, consulting stakeholders is one of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) main duties, as stated in its founding regulation (art. 42, whereas 56), where EFSA must have “effective contacts with consumer representatives, producer representatives, processors and any other interested parties”. Even if not clearly obliged to, EFSA has also opted to consider lay citizens’ opinion (under an interpretation of art. 42, wh. 40 of the 178 Reg.) in order to enhance “trust” in food safety. Beyond having formally established meetings with restricted access for participants – like the Stakeholders’ Consultative Platform and the Annual Colloquium, – EFSA engages in its “Public Consultation” web-based Window (PCW). It allows listening to anybody who wishes to submit comments on technical issues.     

Harmonised collection of national food consumption data in Europe

Since 2005, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has worked in close cooperation with organisations operating in the field towards harmonising dietary survey methodology and building a common European Union (EU) food consumption database. Harmonised food consumption data are the basis for improving accuracy of EU-wide exposure assessments and also supports nutrition surveillance, diet and health related studies. Improved risk assessments assure more targeted risk management and permit more accurate risk communication resulting in increased consumer confidence. The most important step in this direction was the development of the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database, which compiles existing national dietary information from the Member States (MS). MS used different methods to collect food consumption data, which makes it difficult to carry out EU-wide analyses or country-to-country comparisons. Furthermore, as the consumption patterns are continuously changing, regular update of the available information is necessary. Therefore, in 2011 EFSA launched the “What’s on the Menu in Europe? - EU Menu” project, with the aim of providing financial and technical support to carry out national dietary surveys in the EU. It focuses on collecting data from six population groups (from three months to 74 years of age) using harmonised methods described in the EFSA Guidance on the EU Menu methodology that has been endorsed by the EU institutions through the EFSA Network on Food Consumption Data. EFSA is currently supporting 36 surveys on children and/or adults from 18 Member States and four pre-accession countries. All projects are expected to be finalised by 2023.     

The catering industry as a source of campylobacteriosis in Europe—A review

Thermotolerant species of Campylobacter are the causative agents of the human illness called campylobacteriosis. The number of confirmed cases of human campylobacteriosis in the European Union followed a significant increasing trend in the period 2008–2012, and continued to be the most commonly reported zoonosis with 214,779 confirmed cases in 2013; the notification of human campylobacteriosis is today mandatory in most European Member States. Recent reports from the European Food Safety Authority have identified catering (catering services, restaurants, hotels, pubs, bars) as the most frequently reported setting for Campylobacter infection (EFSA and ECDC, 2015). As can be evinced from the analysis of the scientific literature, the quality of raw meat has been identified as a parameter of fundamental importance, but the contribution of incorrect food handling procedures is by no means negligible. In fact, poor hygiene during poultry meat preparation as well as inadequate cooking and cross-contamination between raw meat and ready-to-eat food were found to be the main causes for the spread of campylobacteriosis related to the catering industry.