EU lacks personnel and equipment in hygiene security
The EU Member States are confronted with human resource shortage in food safety system that can turn into a real danger for the consumer in case of emergency, reports Food Safety News.
Part of the Member States has signalled resource shortage in laboratory equipment or means of transport for staff.
The European Commission took note of this problems and the issues are going to be addressed when developing legislation. The officials also mentioned that the Member States can solve some of these problems with new IT systems, re-organization and optimized procedures.
The report for 2014 was the last that was submitted by all 28 member states. The 2016 annual report had been submitted by only three member states. Main areas of non-compliance identified by member states included: operational, structural or equipment-based hygiene requirements; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP); labelling of food and feed; additives in food and feed; poor or absent record keeping and microbiological contamination.
Underlying causes for these problems were high staff turnover in food business operators, often linked to low wages and which affects the continuous use of good hygiene practices, lack of training at food firms, and/or lack of knowledge of the requirements.
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