Capítulo IV Propuesta
4.2 Análisis Costo – Beneficio
of agro-food systems without considering the role of food safety. This is true for several reasons: first of all because, as previously highlighted, food security has quantitative, and also qualitative dimensions: enhancing the level in food production is not useful if systems to protect food from contaminations are not effectively implemented.
It is fundamental not to forget the impact of food safety on waste: contaminated food, indeed, cannot be consumed and must be discarded. An interesting report produced by FAO13, analysing causes for global food losses and wastes, identifies microbial and chemical contaminations as one of the main causes that generate, every year, about 1.3 billion of food waste. And finally, there is the “economic dimension” of food safety, considering the amount of food that cannot be trade if contaminated or not responding to food safety standards.
The necessity to feed an increasing global population (and the high pitched debate on GMOs, sustainable intensification of agriculture etc.), the globalization of trades and the economic implications of food safety regulation, the new emerging trends in food consumption patterns (for example, the spread of informal food trade also in developed countries, or the habits to consume raw food) are posing big challenges to global food safety.
In the previous section, it has been highlighted as an effective “risk analysis”
model – as the one implemented by the European Union – has to be based on science and policy. Hence, effective solutions will necessarily come from the integration and the dialogue between different disciplines.
On the one hand, scientific research and technology play a fundamental role in ensuring the highest level of food safety and consumer protection. It is quite surprising to notice that, in many cases, it would be enough to spread very basic hygienic practices (e.g. proper hand washing) or to implement basic technological solutions (e.g. building proper silos to store food) to save many
12 http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/scientific-advice/jecfa/en.
13 Gustavsson J., Cederberg C., Sonesson U., Van Otterdijk R., Meybeck A., 2011. “Global food losses and wastes”. FAO, Rome.
human lives. And we should bitterly admit that, in many cases, there is not a great awareness about this.
On the other hand, from the side of public policies, first of all it is important to highlight that many countries (particularly developing ones) do not have an infrastructure that is capable of recognizing and reacting to food-borne problems. One of the biggest problems to tackle is to improve the quality of the food borne diseases surveillance system: data are fundamental to develop systems, at the national level, that can collect data, allowing the adoption of intervening measures to reduce the risk. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of food borne illnesses come to the notice of health services, and even fewer are investigated, particularly in developing countries, where poverty and lack of resources for food safety management and food control services do not allow to effectively measure the incidence of illnesses.
Additionally, in many countries food safety legislation may be absent or rudimentary and fragmented (in this sense, building a sound national food safety legislation could be a critical point, particularly when considering the importance of global trades safeguarding, at the same time, local traditions and habits). Also, some developing countries are unable to participate in international bodies, such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the World Trade Organization (WTO). And finally, food safety personnel are often scarce and not properly trained.
In this framework, it is important to stress the role of communication of risk and consumer education. An important topic to tackle with is the problem of the consumers’ perception versus scientific evidences. The emerging of new
“food trends”, accompanied by an amount of information – not always correct – spread by mass-media, are resulting in behaviours increasingly guided by individual perception rather than scientific evidences. For example, consumers are increasingly interested in buying “healthy” food, hence they commit themselves in buying food from “short supply chain” (or “zero-mile”), organic food etc.; actually, this willingness to consume healthy food contrast with the persistence of wrong behaviours and habits, as consuming raw fish and meat, or preparing food at home without caring of risks for cross contaminations.
Moreover, risk communication tools should be improved, in order to avoid the spread of partial or even wrong information, resulting in irrational behaviours that can seriously damage local economy.
A key point in developing more effective food safety systems at the global level is to joint together experts coming from the different area of the world and to mix different competencies in a multidisciplinary approach. As effectively written by Van de Venter (2000)14, “emerging food-borne problems will not be solved by individual countries acting in isolation, no matter how high their level of expertise and food control”.
The risk analysis model implemented at the European Union, which efficacy is demonstrated by the low number of food-borne diseases reported, can be a very good example to be imitated by other countries. Particularly, the
“farm-14 Van de Venter, T. 2000. “Emerging food-borne diseases: a global responsibility”. Food Nutr. Agric., 26: 4-13.
to-fork” concept should be enhanced by building safety into the production, handling, processing and storage of food.
“We have been created not to live as brutes but to follow the virtue and the knowledge”, wrote the Italian poetry Dante Alighieri. For a researcher, this “knowledge” is the science: science can be a powerful tool to face the challenges for food safety and food security, to improve the quality of life, to reduce hunger and poverty and, definitely, to ensure that the goals of a sustainable development could be reached. At the same time, effective food safety systems cannot be developed without integrated and coordinated approaches, based on the continuous dialogue and cooperation between all the stakeholders in the food chain. Only pursuing a similar approach, it will be possible to develop real sustainable agro-food systems.