Under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Ministry of Health held Wednesday a conference assembling various actors in the EU food sector to discuss the theme 'Materials in Contact with Foodstuffs: Ensuring Security and Innovation in Europe'.
Organisations present included the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), as well as experts from Member States and industry representatives.
As food safety is a broad field spanning the entire food chain, the conference aimed to tackle questions such as how the safety of materials in contact with foodstuffs could be ensured to protect customers; the benefits of innovation for the consumer and the industry, and the challenges the sectory faces.
From primary production and processing to distribution and final consumption, food is subject to various hazards throughout the supply chain. Therefore, in order to ensure food safety, the levels of bacteria, chemicals or biochemicals and foreign bodies within must be controlled.
"As Minister of Health, responsible for food safety, guaranteeing consumers the safety of the products placed on the market is a top priority for me," commented Lydia Mutsch.
As well as basic food security, there are other areas to consider, such as Food Contact Materials (FCM). As the food we consume is for the most part packaged, whether for reasons of conservation, storage or manufacturing, we use materials which come into contact with food on a daily basis.
"As long as civilisation has existed, packaging and storage of food has been integral to survival," commented Beate Kettlitz, Director Food Policy, Science and R&D, FoodDrinkEurope. "Packaging is carefully designed to undertake a number of tasks to present food in an attractive, safe and convenient way to consumers".
This packaging provides numerous benefits, including protecting food against external contamination; allowing the food product to last longer and retain its nutritional qualities; and provide useful information to its consumers. It is also an important feature in terms of durability, because of the recycling process involved in the manufacture of foodstuff materials.
However, the field of FCM is only partially regulated and has experienced withdrawals of food products from shelves due to the migration of substances from packing to food.
"It therefore becomes necessary to regulate this area of risk management principles which whill protect the health of consumers irrespective of the nature of the materials used without preventing innovation in this sector," explained Minister Mutsch.
She continued: "I am convinced that this conference, organised by the OSQCA [Organisation for the Security and Quality of the Food Chain] and as a Luxembourg Focal POint of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in collaboration with the Food Security Service, is a great and unique opportunity to remember the basic principles we value, all the while thinking about innovative and sustainable solutions, and I am confident that this will provide the answers to the questions raised".
Photo by Ministry of Health (Minister of Health, Lydia Mutsch)
