Food products are healthier in the European Union!

Beatriz Santos Mayo, 6 minutes

Did you know that eating fast food products inside the EU is healthier than eating them elsewhere? Did you know some food additives have been restricted in the EU due to potential health risks? The European Food Safety Authority seeks to protect the food chain from the farm to the table and banned everything that may imply a risk to European Citizens. 
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is an independent agency that advises and communicates to the European Union the existing and emerging risk associated with the food chain. The EFSA is a European agency with legal basis. It collaborates with the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the member states to provide the best service to European citizens.

The EFSA was created by Regulation (CE) Nº178/2002 after the alimentary crisis in the 1990s. The objective was to protect the customers and re-establish and maintain their trust in European alimentary products. 

Before the EFSA - Alimentary Crisis

The first crisis was in 1996. Flour and cattle feed were produced from the meat of sheep that had died from the "Scaprie" strain of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. The current food crisis started when sick cattle were utilized to create more flour for animal feed. People who ate the meat from these cattle developed the human form of the disease known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, with symptoms strikingly identical to those of the affected animals, like Blurred vision or blindness, Insomnia, Incoordination, difficulty speaking, and difficulty swallowing. The second one was in 1999, when  Belgium removed all of its chickens and eggs from meat production, issuing a sanitary alert preventing food from these farms from entering the Community. Farms in France and Germany were also impacted. The distribution of recycled fats and oils contaminated with dioxins for animal feed was the cause of the existence of these harmful substances. In this instance, food fraud, including using toxic industrial fats in the food chain, is to blame for the crisis. Finally, in 2002 due to the discovery of dioxin in feed intended for these animals, Belgium, Holland, and Germany shut down 700 poultry and agribusiness farms in February 2002. Although the meat from these animals could reach the food chain, the contamination levels were not alarming. These organic toxins in the pollution influence the mind. Using harmful fats as ingredients, a breach in the food safety system, was the root of the contamination.

Values of EFSA

Excellence: The EFSA conducts rigorous and reliable risk assessments based on the latest scientific advances. Independence: The Scientific advice of EFSA is impartial. Its staff is free from conflict of interest, analyses the data, and objectively applies the methods.  Openness: EFSA evaluations of the alimentary risks are accessible and understandable for all interested authors in the different nutritious matters. Responsibility: EFSA works to improve alimentary security using responsible, sustainable, and practical resources. 

How does it work? - Aged Meet Case

The scientists at EFSA examined current procedures and pinpointed the pathogens and spoilage germs that might emerge and persist during aging and pose a risk to human health. These include enterotoxigenic Yersinia spp., Campylobacter spp., Clostridium spp., Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli (STEC) (particularly in beef).

They explained the criteria that would produce dry and wet meat with the same level of safety as fresh meat, expressed as combinations of time and temperature during the aging process. The EFSA experts recommended that the surface temperature of dry-aged beef not rise above 3°C while it is being aged.

Finally, EFSA scientists concluded that the precondition programs and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems used to verify the safety of fresh meat equally apply to aged meat.

2027- Strategic Objectives

The launch of the new Transparency Regulation and the implementation of EFSA's Strategy 2027 occur simultaneously. Through better transparency and communication, this Regulation intends to boost stakeholders and the public's trust in EFSA while improving the accuracy of its risk assessments and the sustainability of its business model. This Plan includes implementation activities for the numerous demands made on EFSA under the Transparency Regulation. These are a natural continuation of the goals and actions outlined in EFSA's Strategy 2020 in many ways. Strategy 2027 also contains fresh actions resulting from previously unveiled, long-term EU policy reforms (e.g., F2F strategy). Three Strategic Goals serve as the strategy's focal points.

Three separate Strategic Goals that form the agency's main goal are anticipated to be accomplished according to the EFSA 2027 Strategy. These Strategic Objectives will direct EFSA in carrying out its mission in light of the opportunities and challenges mentioned above, aiming to boost stakeholder trust in its scientific advice and increase customer satisfaction, all without compromising the agency's core principles or the caliber of its work. Strategy Goal 1: The first strategic objective is to provide reliable scientific guidance and risk communication from farm to fork. Strategy Goal 2: Assure readiness for upcoming requirements for risk analysis Strategy Goal 3: Promote employee empowerment and organizational agility By policy and risk management choices backed by EFSA's work, one can anticipate seeing the following effects should EFSA effectively accomplish these strategic objectives: a guarantee of public health that takes into account environmental factors, animal welfare, and plant health and the maintenance of confidence in a system of food safety that offers a high level of protection for consumer interests and human health.