Características microscópicas

5.5.1 Microbiological hazards

As we saw in chapter 4 (section 4.2), foodborne infections remain a persistent problem in the Netherlands, with Salmonella, Campylobacter, the noroviruses and Clostridium perfringens jointly responsible for over 50% of food-related illnesses. However, further to integrated food safety policy, it is considered important that the government does not restrict its attention to these pathogens alone.

Government concern for microbiological hazards to food safety is long established.

Both progress reports further to the Nutrition policy document of 1983 state that microbiological hazards should be treated as a matter of priority. The measures imple-mented in the 1990s were largely concerned with improving hygiene within the pro-duction process (such as the intropro-duction of HACCP). Both the ‘Food and Greenery’

document and the food safety policy document of 2001 propose further measures to prevent foodborne infections. During the past few years, investments have been made

in risk assessment models focusing on Salmonella in poultry and eggs, Campylobacter in chicken meat, STEC 0157 in beef and Listeria in pre-prepared (‘chilled’) products.

In its response to the Health Council’s advisory report (2000) on foodborne infections, the government stated that the problem should now be tackled ‘on a broad front’

(VWS & LNV, 2002). Priority would be given to Salmonella in eggs, poultry and pork, Campylobacter in poultry, Listeria monocytogenes in raw milk products and other products, and E. coli in beef. The measures implemented included a ban on the supply or trading of any eggs contaminated with Salmonella, while various hygiene codes were revised to preclude the use of raw eggs in uncooked products such as bavarois and tiramisu. A (temporary) warning was issued with regard to poultry. At the time of writing, the introduction of decontamination methods (techniques which kill bacteria in raw products before they reach the shops) was under consideration, subject to cer-tain conditions. The government has also been actively involved in formulating offi-cial ‘food safety objectives’ (FSOs), based on thorough risk analyses. These would serve to reduce the risk of infection via raw foods of animal origin. The Dutch government intends to produce a set of food safety objectives for Salmonella in poultry and pork some time before 2010 (the target date set by the European Union), whereby the objectives will include Campylobacter. The response to the Health Council’s report also promised further funding for research, since too little is known about the spread, incidence, health effects and costs of food contamination. The results of this research will be used to formulate further intervention strategies.

The policy document ‘Living longer in good health’ (2003) announces a ban on the sale of poultry infected with Salmonella or Campylobacter, effective from 2007, pro-vided this can be reconciled with EU legislation.

To summarize, we may state that the Dutch government is fully aware of the impor-tance of efforts to counter microbiological hazards, and has indeed implemented var-ious measures and initiatives to reduce the incidence of food infections. It has done so as part of general policy, and with policy targeting some specific pathogens, includ-ing Salmonella and Campylobacter (see also chapter 4).

5.5.2 Chemical hazards

As stated in chapter 4 (4.3), the incidence of death and disease which can be directly ascribed to chemical food contamination is relatively low compared to that due to microbiological contamination. Nevertheless, it is essential that there be a continuing focus on preserving an adequate maintenance level with regard to the chemical risks.

Additional attention should be devoted to allergenic substances.

Concerning food-related allergy, the Dutch government mainly targets the consumer, who should be thoroughly and objectively informed about food constituents which can provoke an allergic reaction. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre is responsible for

consumer information concerning hypersensitivity to food and product composition, and has compiled lists of products which may contain components to which the con-sumer is sensitive or allergic. This information is based on the ‘ALBA’ database of aller-gens which is maintained by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and funded by the government. (At the time of writing, the future of this database was uncertain).

The policy document Langer gezond leven (‘Living longer in good health’) (2003) also devoted attention to food allergies and food intolerance. The increased prevalence of such conditions prompted the government to request the Health Council to produce an advisory report. In addition, the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority was scheduled to produce a report in 2004 on ways in which EU labelling legislation could be better enforced, thus ensuring that product labels provide more complete informa-tion to consumers with an allergy. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport will also produce an integrated action plan with regard to food allergies and intolerance (VWS, 2003). In short, the Dutch government’s policy documents devote considerable attention to the topic of food hypersensitivity.

5.6 Summary and conclusions

Examination of the policy documents studied for this report allows us to draw the fol-lowing conclusions:

Food safety has always enjoyed government attention. Many laws and regulations have been passed, and many standards established. However, following a number of incidents in the late 1990s, it was acknowledged that policy should be made yet more stringent, and that the organizational structure with regard to food safety regulation was in need of reform. The emphasis would then be placed on food safety throughout the entire production chain, rather than only that of the end product. Alongside con-sumer protection, open communication with the general public was established as a key objective. National policy is increasingly being developed in line with that at Euro-pean level, and is indeed increasingly determined by the EuroEuro-pean Union. The gov-ernment believes that supervision will be rendered yet more effective following the establishment of the national Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (VWA).

In recent years, the Dutch government has implemented various measures and initia-tives addressing the main problems in terms of microbiological and chemical food contamination, as listed in chapter 4. It has done so in its general policy, aimed at reducing foodborne infections, and by means of policy targeting specific pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, two of the most important pathogens in the Netherlands. In terms of chemical hazards, the main focus has been on food hypersen-sitivity, i.e. allergenic food constituents.

A comparison of the policy documents in terms of their attention to a healthy diet on the one hand, and food safety on the other, leads to two notable findings. Firstly, we see that the two aspects were addressed in tandem during the 1980s, but increasingly became seen as two separate issues. Secondly, the relative importance attached to these aspects has fluctuated over the years. In the early 1980s, for example, the government called for greater attention to be devoted to a healthy diet, while in the late 1990s, the focus was on food safety.

Although we can state that the Dutch government has shown clear and systematic concern for both a healthy diet and food safety, this does not answer every possible question about its policy. For example, the documents say little about the effective-ness of past policy measures, nor do they state clear results with regard to the pro-posed measures. Similarly, it is not yet clear whether current policy takes sufficient account of likely future developments (see chapter 9). This aspect has not been addressed in this chapter.

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6 HOW HEALTHY AND SAFE ARE FUNCTIONAL