Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed: more efficient than ever after 35 years of watching over the food on European plates
The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) 2015 annual report,
published today, demonstrates the increased efficiency with which RASFF
exchanges information on issues posing a serious health risk. The
network thereby enables authorities to act swiftly on many food safety
risks before they could become harmful to European consumers. Last year,
the European Commission received 3049 notifications of food or feed
risks via this EU-wide alert system, 775 of which concerned a serious
health risk. The response rate to such alerts increased by 23% to reach
4030 follow-up notifications. Among the most notified risks were mercury
in fish, aflatoxins in nuts and Salmonella in fruits and vegetables.
RASFF's round-the-clock information sharing service is a key tool to
ensure quick cross-border reaction when risks to public health are
detected in the food chain. The system - which originated in 1979 - has
evolved to keep pace with a growing and increasingly complex global
market and changing consumer habits. New challenges such as global
trade, food fraud, e-commerce and emerging risks require further
enhancing cooperation between RASFF and other systems governing food
safety and public health. Work on dealing with these challenges has
already begun. For more information on RASFF, the full report and the
infographic, see here.(For more information: Enrico Brivio – Tel: +32 229 56172; Axel Fougner – Tel: +32 229 57276)
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