Food Safety Regulations & Standards

The food trade has enormous impact on both the health of populations and the economies of nations.

Organisations from the UN to world trade bodies, national governments and processors accept that people have the right to expect a high standard from food. At the same time they need to ensure trade does not have so many restrictions that it becomes too burdensome.

The volume of world food trade is valued between £300–400 billion, according to FAO.

With the increasing urbanisation of populations, even developing countries are becoming more reliant on global trade and food processing for their supply of food.

It is important that in the long supply chains from farm to consumer food is kept safe, of good quality and suitable for consumption.

These requirements impact business sectors like food processors and producers in every country as consumers are demanding better safety and quality. Producers and processors exporting food to other countries are subject to their own national regulations and also the strict enforcements of standards and regulations of the major importing countries.

The implementation of food safety involves a complex mix of laws, standards and accepted good practices, involving governments, international organisations (e.g. WTO), industry organisations (e.g. GFSI, BRC), research agencies, independent standards bodies (e.g. BRC, IFS) and independent certification bodies.

The global reference point for food producers, processors, consumers, national food safety agencies and the international food trade is the Codex Alimentarius, first drawn up by the FAO and WHO in 1961 and managed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The importance of Codex Alimentarius was recognised in the 1985 United Nations Resolution 39/248:

"Governments should take into account the need of all consumers for food security and should support and, as far as possible, adopt standards from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius..."

It has become the global driver for harmonisation of practices and standards among national bodies, for food safety and quality and also international trade. Its standards are recognised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the settlement of trade disputes.

The Codex has stimulated countries to introduce new food legislation and Codex-based standards, and to establish or strengthen agencies responsible for monitoring compliance with regulations.

The EU set up the European Food Safety Authority in 2002 as an independent source of scientific advice.

The UK government established the independent Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2001, bringing together several existing agencies into one body, to promote standards through the food chain and advise the government.

In the European Union, the food and drink industry is the biggest manufacturing sector in terms of jobs and value added. It is also both one of the world’s largest importers of food products and the world’s largest exporter of processed food and drink products, with an export value of €43 billion in 2013, according to the European Commission.

The EU negotiates trade agreements for member countries and represents all member countries in the WTO for multilateral trade agreements. It has negotiated bilateral agreements with members of all the major trading blocks, such as OECD countries, Gulf Co-operation Council, Mercosur and Andean countries, etc.

All EU and individual national measures are guided by the general principles of food and feed law described in the The General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002. These cover all stages of the production, processing and distribution of food and animal feed.

The general objectives of EU food law are:

• guarantee a high level of protection of human life and health and the protection of consumers’ interests;
• guarantee fair practices in food trade, taking into account animal health and welfare, plant health and the environment;
• ensure free movement of food and feed manufactured and marketed in the EU;
• facilitate global trade of safe feed and safe, wholesome food by taking into account international standards and agreements.

Further regulations on food hygiene were introduced in 2004:

• Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs;
• Regulation (EC) 853/2004 on specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin;
• Regulation (EC) 854/2004 on specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption.

These gave the food business operator primary responsibility for food safety and specified that the general implementation of procedures must be based on HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) principles. The regulations also specified the development of guides to good hygiene practices for specific processes to help businesses comply with the rules.

Food safety standards help companies establish good manufacturing processes so they can produce safe products that comply with food safety legislation and meet quality levels expected by consumers.

They are generally formulated by independent bodies such as BRC and IFS, adopted by food processing businesses and checked by certified accreditation bodies.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a body set up by the world’s leading retailers and manufacturers in 2000 to provide thought leadership and guidance on food safety management systems.

GFSI facilitates collaboration between the food safety experts from retail, manufacturing and food service companies, and also international organisations, governments, academia and service providers to the global food industry.

GFSI creates the benchmark for food safety standards and gives approval to those that reach its ‘standard for standards’.

The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety was the first to be approved by GFSI and is the most widely used worldwide. This sets out seven sections for an effective food safety system:

1. Senior management commitment and continual improvement.
2. The Food Safety Plan: HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) program based on the requirements of the Codex Alimentarius system.
3. Food safety and quality management system: product specifications, supplier approval, traceability, and the management of incidents and product recalls. This builds on the principles of ISO 9000.
4. Site standards: layout and maintenance of the buildings and equipment, cleaning, pest control, waste management and foreign body control.
5. Product control: product design and development including allergen management, product and ingredient provenance, product packaging and product inspection and testing.
6. Process control: safe process controls, weight/volume control, equipment calibration, ensuring the HACCP plan is implemented.
7. Personnel: standards for staff training, protective clothing and personal hygiene.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) is a systematic approach to food safety that focuses on preventing contamination from biological, chemical, physical and radiological hazards.

HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls) is a recent adaptation for certain businesses in the USA that come under the Food Safety and Modernization Act.

HACCP was first developed for the design and manufacture of food for the US space programme.

The hazards include bacteria, viruses, natural toxins, pesticides, drug residues, decomposition, parasites, allergens, unapproved food and colour additives, and radioactive compounds.

HACCP is used at all stages of food production, from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. Each food processing or handling business must develop an HACCP system and tailor it to its individual product, processing and distribution conditions.

The seven principles of HACCP are accepted by government agencies, trade associations and the food industry around the world. These principles are:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis.
2. Identify critical control points (CCPs).
3. Establish critical limits for critical control points.
4. Establish monitoring procedures.
5. Establish corrective actions.
6. Establish verification procedures.
7. Establish record-keeping and documentation procedures.

The US FSMA and standards used in Europe and the US, such as the BRC version 7 of its Global Standard for Food Safety and the British Standards Institute PAS96: 2014, now add the prevention of deliberate attack on a food or drink supply chain, including from terrorism, to the procedures.

PAS96: 2014 uses a risk management methodology called Threat Assessment Critical Control Points (TAACP) to assess the entire production process and food chain.

GMPs describe the methods, equipment, facilities, and controls for producing processed food to produce high quality and safe products and are generally specified in regulations. 

GMPs, along with standard operating procedures (SOPs), form the basis for HACPP and the ISO9000 quality management standard. They are often visualised as a pyramid of dependencies.

Figure: The foundation of HACCP and ISO9000
Source: University of Nebraska (link)

Food Standards Agency. Food Hygiene. A Guide for Businesses. London, Food Standards Agency, 2013

European Commission. Food Hygiene Basic Legislation.
https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/biosafety/food_hygiene/legislation_en

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/fsma-final-rule-preventive-controls-human-food

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-modernization-act-fsma/fsma-rules-guidance-industry