International Standards for Food Safety

This is one of the first books to draw together information and views about international control of food safety from around the world. Demands for safe food, against a background of increasing trade, are making international controls on food safety essential. Agreements on how to control the safety of food to meet these needs are now in place among the major trading blocks, particularly in Europe and in the USA, and more recently, in Australia. This book also describes progress in areas such as systematically reviewing risk from food; developing national infrastructures to enforce standards; and growing input from consumer groups and others, including economists, to the debate on how to set international food standards. Discussed in depth is the effort to achieve global standards for food safety under the auspices of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. There are chapters from world-leading experts on Codex, international control of radiological contamination, pesticides and veterinary drugs, and other chemical contaminants.

The Importance Of International Food Safety. International Food Standards: The Work of Codex. Food Safety and International Trade: The Role of the WTO and the SPS Agreement. National and Regional Standards. Regulation of Food Additives, Contaminants, and Pesticides in the United States. European Community Legislation on Limits for Additives and Contaminants in Food. Development of Australia/New Zealand Standards. Southern Common Market Standards. Scientific and Other Legitimate Factors. Exposure Assessment Supporting International Developments. Methods for Estimating Dietary Exposure and Quantifying Variability. The Need for Developing Countries to Improve National Infrastructure to Contribute to International Standards. A View from Consumers. Codex and Other International Standards. The Codex General Standard for Food Additives. A Work in Progress. Development of the Codex Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food. Codex Standards for Pesticide Residues. Codex Standards for Veterinary Drug Residues. Development of Radiological Standards. Establishment of Codex Microbiological Criteria for Foods. Index.