International Experts Address Teagasc Food Safety and Nutrition Conference

Exaggeration of the hazards of some developments in food and the consequent consumer backlash, the future of functional foods and food safety at farm level were among the issues raised at a major European food safety and nutrition conference in Dublin this week (Thursday, December 1st and Friday, December 2nd, 2005).

Organised by Teagasc's Ashtown Food Research Centre, the conference, The Science of Food Safety and Nutrition, was the final in a series of six European Union Risk Analysis Information Network (EU-RAIN) conferences held throughout Europe over the last three years.

Professor Patrick Wall of University College Dublin, former head of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, dealing with the future of food safety, said that some risk sources could create social and economic impacts that were far greater than would be predicted on the basis of estimated direct harm. These hazards, for example, radiation or recombinant DNA research, generally evoke a concern and dread among segments of the public in some countries, amplifying the adverse impacts of these technologies and evoking a risk management response that is often in proportion to the media interest rather than in proportion to the degree of risk to the consumer, he said.

A similar point on exaggeration of other aspects relating to the food industry was made by Dr Louise Browne from Unilever Corporate Research in the UK. She said that the technology backlash experienced by plant biotechnologists over the introduction of Genetically Modified foods and crops served as an important lesson for the food industry. It emphasized the need for early and proactive public engagement and the development of communications strategies that clearly articulate the benefits, both for the individual consumer and the population at large.

Professor Paul Ross of Teagasc Moorepark, said that functional foods foods that claim to promote human health represented tremendous potential for adding value to the Irish food industry. The Irish market, conservatively valued at €12 million today, could grow to as much as €245 million within five years. Increasing scientific evidence and consumer awareness of the links between diet and health is fuelling a very buoyant market for functional foods, he said.

Dr. Declan Bolton of Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre (AFRC) stressed the importance of food safety management on farms especially in relation to the production of clean animals. Drawing an analogy between pre late nineteenth century cities and the rampant diseases associated with poor sanitation, he suggested that control of E. coli O157 and other bacterial foodborne pathogens was practically impossible until the issue of poor hygiene in animal production was satisfactorily addressed.

Professor James Sheridan, also of Teagasc -AFRC, highlighted the urgent need for research involving the live animal in relation to the control of food-borne pathogens, referring to the recent discovery of a group of completely new serotypes of E. coli in cattle that could have significant public health implications in terms of food borne illness in Ireland