Food Safety in Europe; the use of early warning systems

Transcription

1 Food Safety in Europe; the use of early warning systems ( 食品安全在欧洲 ; 早期预警系统的应用 ) Hans Marvin (RIKILT Institute of Food Safety) SELAMAT-SS-NW, International workshop Pesticide residues & Mycotoxin and food safety. Beijing, China September 2010

2 History of RIKILT Foundation of RIKILT: 1975 State Dairy Station, Leiden State Agricultural Testing Station, Maastricht Part of Wageningen UR since 1998

3 Wageningen UR Wageningen University Research Centre Van Hall Larenstein students employees 40 locations

4 Wageningen Campus

5 RIKILT Institute of Food Safety Research institute within Wageningen UR History of > 100 years Located on the campus in Wageningen 200 coworkers including PhD students and foreign guests Annual turnover 20 M Main roles Statutory tasks Food safety research

6 Outline of the lecture Food Safety in Europe; introduction Systems to identify food safety risks at an early stage Reactive systems Proactive systems Holistic principle GEMIS Conclusions

7 Food Safety in Europe; introduction Broad public concern about the safety of the European food supply

8 Food Safety in Europe; introduction Low public trust in: Food safety The way food crises were handled The regulatory system in Europe

9 Food Safety in Europe; introduction EU White Paper on Food Safety Strategic priorities: Establishment of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2002 Farm to Fork approach in EU legislation Defining responsibilities for food safety General Food Law (Regulation 178/2002) Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)

10 Systems to identify food safety risks at an early stage Reactive systems Hazard based systems Example from Europe: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Exchange of information between nations Searching for information Proactive systems Horizon scanning, foresight, risk profiling, vulnerability assessment Holistic approach Early warning systems for Mycotoxins on wheat and maize (GEMIS)

11 Reactive systems: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Centralized system Required by General Food Law 178/2002/EC Members: EU, EFTA, Commission (30 countries involved) Notifications Alerts of importance for other member states Actions can be taken Information that can be contained by member Border rejections Weekly and annual reports on website Reported hazards are known webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/portal/ window/portal/

12 Monitoring of Impact; RASFF trend analysis Objective: Can data be used for trend analysis? Links between hazards and other parameters? Published research Four-years study (Mid 2003 Mid 2007) Number of records processed: 11,430 Updated database Six years (Mid 2003 Mid 2009) Number of records: 17,537 Number of specific hazards: 19,676

13 RASFF trend analysis: mycotoxin reports Mycotoxin notification categories RASFF, July June % 21% Alert Border rejections Information 71% Adapted from Kleter 2010

14 RASFF trend analysis: mycotoxin reports Timeline (per quarter-year) of mycotoxin notifications RASFF, July June Total hazards Mycotoxin hazard # of notifications Most of the reports (95%) referred to Aflatoxins and were found on nuts (74%), fruit and processed fruit (8%), and spices (6%) Adapted from Kleter 2010

15 RASFF trend analysis: mycotoxin reports Origin of mycotoxin-containing products RASFF, July June % 1% 14% Iran Turkey Main products Iran: 2% 2% 2% 3% 4% 4% 7% 33% China USA India Argentina Brazil Egypt Ghana Nigeria Italy pistachio Turkey: hazelnut/ pistachio/ dried fig China: peanut/ groundnut 9% 18% Pakistan Others (88)

16 RASFF trend analysis: pesticide residues Temporary high in occurrence of reports on pesticide residues Including isophenfos-methyl on Spanish bell peppers and amitraz on Turkish pears From Kleter et al. 2009

17 Systems to identify food safety risks in an early stage Reactive systems Hazard based systems Example from Europe: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Exchange of information between nations Searching for information Proactive systems Horizon scanning, foresight, risk profiling, vulnerability assessment Holistic approach Early warning systems for Mycotoxins on wheat and maize (GEMIS)

18 Reactive systems; search engines EU: European Media Monitor (EMM) operated by Joint Research Centre (JRC) Publications collected, filtered & classified, presented & visualized, trend analysis => alerts

19 Search engine; EMM as example (real time events in news)

20 Search engine; EMM as example (Med Sys; alerts)

21 Systems to identify food safety risks in an early stage Reactive systems Hazard based systems Example from Europe: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Exchange of information between nations Searching for information Proactive systems Horizon scanning, foresight, risk profiling, vulnerability assessment Holistic approach Early warning systems for Mycotoxins on wheat and maize (GEMIS)

22 Pro-active early warning systems: holistic approach Look at influences inside and outside the food chain Projects developing this approach for the early identification of foodborne risks: EU 6th FP: PERIAPT EU 6th FP: SAFE FOODS; Workpackage 2 EFSA: EMRISK Dutch project: Emerging Risks in the Dutch Food Chain

23 Pro-active early warning systems: holistic approach Sectors influencing food production & food safety Science & Technology Environment & Energy Government & Politics Information & Communication Food Chain(s) Industry & Trade Economy & Finance Population & Social conditions Agriculture Health & Welfare Source: Wim Ooms VWA, 2006

24 Pro-active early warning systems: holistic approach Pro-active holistic approach (some examples) Increased production increased disease pressure antibiotic use risk. Indicator: increased production. Source: FAO, EUROSTAT Increased small scale production lack of knowledge misuse risk. Indicator: increased small scale production; Source: FAO More resistant strains other antibiotics new risk. Indicator: more resistant strains; Source: science programs Lack of international harmonised legislation zero tolerance risk.

25 Pro-active early warning systems: holistic approach Pro-active holistic approach (examples) Conclusions from the case studies In every case study influential sectors were identified. Most frequent influential sectors were: Science and technology Human behavior Nature and environment Legislation & economy Many indicators (and related data sources) were identified, generic and case-specific Emerging risk systems based on holistic principle seem promising but need much more research

26 Systems to identify food safety risks in an early stage Reactive systems Hazard based systems Example from Europe: Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Exchange of information between nations Searching for information Proactive systems Horizon scanning, foresight, risk profiling, vulnerability assessment Holistic approach Early warning systems for Mycotoxins on wheat and maize (GEMIS)

27 Identification of Emerging Mycotoxins (EM) Projects at WUR: To develop a system aimed at pro-actively identifying emerging mycotoxins (and prevents them from becoming risks) Characteristics: Anticipatory instead of responsive approach Different from, but not a replacement of, current systems Approach may use indicators Holistic approach Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

28 Identification of Emerging Mycotoxins (EM) Work performed in EU project MYCONET Starting from Fusarium spp. related toxins In European wheat based feed/food supply chains 12 key indicators selected for each stage Cultivation; transport and storage; processing Consensus among expert panel Semi-quantitative ranking of indicators Potential interactions defined Cultivation is the most important stage Most indicators relevant for known mycotoxins, but. some additional selected These might be of especial importance for EM Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

29 Identification of Emerging Mycotoxins (EM) Key indicators for EM in wheat cultivation Indicator (Cultivation stage) Total score (N=24) Median Average SD Relative humidity/rainfall (air and soil) Crop rotation Temperature Tillage practice Water activity in kernels Crop variety / Cultivars Harvest conditions Changes in composition of fungal populations Pesticide/fungicide use Plant health (stress factors) Regional infection pressure Awareness of food safety Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

30 Identification of Emerging Mycotoxins (EM) Model development Based on the key-indicators Using data from information sources The model should handle Different types of information quantitative and qualitative technical and expert information Region specific information Different levels of information detail (time, space) Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

31 Identification of Emerging Mycotoxins (EM) How does it look? Maps of Europe Input maps for indicators (can be any relevant indicator) e.g. weather, wheat cultivar, storage quality, fungal species Modeling tool to assess EM occurrence, based on region specific indicator information Output maps for assessed occurrence of EM Scenarios ( what if ) can be added, e.g., regarding climate change, area grain, biofuel production Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

32 Geographic EM Identification System (GEMIS) EM map EM model databases indicator 1 maps 2 3 what if scenarios Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

33 Demo GEMIS (1) Input: Flowering date Output: Prediction Mycotoxin level Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

34 Demo GEMIS: scenario analyses Prediction of Mycotoxin levels at +2 C temperature & +3 mm rainfall Source: Ine van der Fels-Klerx 2010

35 Conclusions Current reactive early warning systems are useful to warn for food safety risks at an early stage. Information sharing is important to combat the development of food safety risks The holistic approach to predict food safety risks seems feasible but further research is need to develop systems based on this principle

36 Acknowledgement The author wish to thank: Colleagues at RIKILT Colleagues at Wageningen University and Researchcentre (WUR) MYCONET partners

37 Thank you for your attention 非常感谢大家 Wageningen UR