How Safe is the Food Safety Chain With Many Weak Links In It?

V Prakash

The most important industry in today’s economy is no doubt agri-economy with the broader perspective of good agricultural practices, good harvesting practices, good transport practices and also good manufacturing practices, and looking at the quality of the food chain, food safety becomes a very vital part of it.  However the importance of policy guidelines and innovative technologies shall keep revisiting us from time to time, along with safety guidelines for food globally.  It becomes impossible for the consumer to demand 100% food safety, as the growing environment also need to be kept clean to avoid nasty bacterial, fungal and other contaminants.  This conflict has to be resolved.

The power of the small and village industries, and emerging new economies with larger companies,  becomes too much of a paradox to determine which perishables are the ones which result in most damage or contamination, be it milk, fruit, a vegetable, or fish, meat or poultry.  Safety and security should be addressed not only from the microbiological point of view of hygiene, but also from the minimisation of unnecessary and preventable food loss and wastage.  Thus linking the progressive farmers and marginal farmers to a knowledge market is very critical. One needs to take a different approach of adaptable, affordable and doable food processing in rural areas, of course with the connectivity of ICT to sustainable development.

The backward linkages of food processing and scale up, as well as byproduct utilisation, all means a great deal for sustainable agriculture and a viable food chain. Organisations such as the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), with World Bank (WB) funding, has a major role to play in bringing about awareness of food safety throughout the education chain. Regulators and policy makers must also be well informed to ensure food safety.  Such a strategy will enable IUFoST to reach out to as many people as possible to educate sectors and train the trainers for dissipating information to small processors and consumers in  rural areas.

The losses and waste of foods, especially perishable foods, exceeds 1.3 billion tonnes/year. Such food losses and waste are very serious and require policy discussion, and implementation, by government, private sector processors and by each individual consumer.  The diagnosis and actions, individually and collectively, must reduce food losses and waste, and also prevent unsafe food reaching the agrifood chain.

Risk assessment is vital in reforming food safety Laws.  The consumer demands fresh, easy, convenient, healthy, safe and secure food with clear labels for all products, and to be cost effective.  In this process, Information technology shall drive a very important agenda from farm to fork.

Dr V Prakash FIAFoST FRSC is a Distinguished Scientist of CSIR-India, Immediate Past Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, Vice President (2014-17) of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, a Past President (2008-10) of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) and is currently Director of Research, Innovation and Development at JSS-MVP, Mysore 570 006, India; e-mail: prakashvish@gmail.com