Food safety bovine spongiform encephalopathy

EFSA was legally established by a European Parliament and Council Regulation adopted in 2002 following a series of food scares in the 1990s including the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and dioxins scandals, which undermined consumer confidence in the safety of the food chain (EFSA 2007). 

This has been highlighted by a number of food safety issues. For example, lack of confidence that uncertainties were being adequately dealt with has been an important factor in recent public concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy and genetically modified crops, especially in Europe. Uncertainty was also a factor in the earlier controversy over alar in apples (e.g., Ames and Gold 1989 Groth 1989 Thayer 1989). 

One of the most striking consumer trends in recent years has been the increasing demand for natural and healthy foods where ethical issues (such as animal welfare and health) are also taken into consideration (Andersen et al., 2005). Safety has also become a very important issue of concern in modern food production, prompted mainly by several health crises (hormones, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), antibiotics, dioxin contamination of feed, etc.). 

In the period prior to launch of the White Paper, the European Community had experienced consumer disquiet due to a number of food scares. These included contamination of animal feed, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), concern about the use of antimicrobial feed additive used to increase productivity in animal production, and genetically modified food. The White Paper identified the need to reestablish consumer confidence in the European food supply and to reassure trading partners of the Communities ability to regulate and control die safety of its food supply. 

EFSA was established in 2002 in response to several food crises of the 1990s (e.g., bovine spongiform encephalopathy—mad cow disease). It is intended as an independent source of scientific opinion in the area of food safety, and consults with the EC in its risk management decisions. EFSA works together with external experts who make up their thematically organized scientific panels. The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) reviews FCS applications and publishes publicly accessible scientific opinions on each substance. EFSA s scientific opinions are either based on requests by Member States, the EC, the E.U. Parliament, or are self-mandated. 

---