On Food Safety – Incidents in the Food Industry

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Guest author: Irena Šoljić, phd, mag. ing. techn. aliment.
Assistant at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University

Let’s take a step back from the usual education on healthy eating and scratch the surface of the science that deals with delivering safe and high-quality food products to your plate – the topic of food safety.

This text is a commentary on an article published in the Croatian version of Euractiv titled “Porijeklo namirnica nedovoljno propisano u novim EU regulativama o hrani” (“The origin of food products insufficiently prescribed in the new EU food regulations “) (Euractiv, 2018a). My initial idea was to give a scientific commentary on some of the incidents mentioned in the article. However, in searching for sources of information, I came to an interesting realization – the conclusions in the Croatian version of the article were not always consistent with the conclusions in the English version (Euractiv, 2018b).

Scientific integrity is based not only on truth, but also on precision and accurate interpretation. Therefore, I believe it is essential, in addition to providing scientific commentary on the article, to compare the differences between the two language versions of what appear to be the same articles.

The differences could already be sensed by simply comparing the titles.

Figure 1. Title of the Croatian version of the article. (It translates to “The origin of food products insufficiently prescribed in the new EU food regulations”)
Figure 2. Title of the English version of the article.

Namely, “porijeklo namirnica” (“origin of food”) is not the same as “traceability.”
“Traceability” in Croatian is translated as “sljedivost“ and refers to the path of a food item from farm to consumer’s table. The goal is to track that product so that it can be recalled (withdrawn from the market) in case it is found to be non-compliant with the law or dangerous to health. Figure 3 shows the scope of the term “sljedivost.” (Traceability)

Figure 3. Food traceability in the food industry. Shown is the path of a food product from primary production (e.g., farm, greenhouse), through processing, and then through the distribution chain to the consumer (restaurants, shops, or individual consumers). (Source: Remax Products, 2019).

“Origin of food” is a narrower concept and, written like this, could be interpreted as the moment of primary production of the food item, excluding the rest of the chain shown in Figure 3.

The English version of the title uses the phrase “draft food law,” which is not mentioned in the Croatian title, and should have been translated as “prijedlog Zakona o hrani” (Food law proposal) instead of “nove EU regulative o hrani”  (new EU food regulations). Interesting, too, is the choice of the phrase “nedovoljno propisano” (“insufficiently regulated”) as the translation for the word “weak.”

And the last thing that particularly intrigued me was the omission of the part from the English version that says “activists warn.” The translator, for some reason, decided to ignore a key fact that characterizes the credibility of the statement – its source.

By using the above translation choices, the Croatian version’s title gives a far more serious tone than the original title.

The opening sentences mention several recent incidents in the food industry, i.e., findings of insecticides in eggs and salmonella in baby formula.

Let me elaborate in more detail on the incident of the discovery of insecticides in eggs, the so-called “Fipronil incident.” Fipronil is a legally approved pesticide used for pest control in, for example, corn cultivation, or as an ingredient in flea powders for pets. Since it attacks the liver, kidneys, and thyroid gland when ingested in large amounts, WHO classifies it as “moderately hazardous.” Accordingly, Fipronil is banned in the European Union for use on animals intended for human consumption (Joint Research Center – JRC, 2018).

Nevertheless, Fipronil is a widely used substance, which increases the likelihood of finding its residues in environments where it normally should not be present. Therefore, the European Commission established a Maximum Residue Level (MRL) of 0.005 mg/kg in eggs and poultry meat. This value is the highest legally permitted level for pesticide residues in the mentioned food products.

To ensure their products comply with laws, food companies are recommended to follow the principles of Good Agricultural Practice – GAP, Good Manufacturing Practice – GMP, and Good Hygienic Practice – GHP. These principles are designed to protect both consumers and producers. Namely, it is in the producer’s interest that their product is high quality and safe for human consumption because product recalls are blows from which companies recover with difficulty.

Also, companies producing food products for the European market are legally obliged to undergo inspection controls. The frequency of inspections varies and depends, among other things, on the company’s prior performance. If a company operates according to the aforementioned GAP, GMP, or GHP principles, this will be reflected in positive results from government inspection analyses. After a certain period, if the analysis results show compliance with legal regulations, the frequency of sampling can be reduced to, for example, once every six months. The producer has demonstrated that they can produce safe and quality food products. Therefore, the system shows trust and reallocates resources to other entities.

Let’s return to Fipronil.

In the same JRC report (2018), it is stated that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), after reviewing scientific literature, concluded that a concentration of 0.72 mg of Fipronil per kilogram of eggs does not pose a safety risk for consumers.
Notice, the amount of Fipronil per kilogram of eggs that is punishable by law is 144 times lower (0.72 > 0.005 mg) than the amount that toxicological studies showed to be safe for the consumer.

To reach a risky intake level, a child weighing 10 kg (about 18 months old) and an adult weighing 65 kg would have to eat 210 or rather 1400 g of biscuits, respectively, made with highly contaminated eggs (0.72 mg/kg Fipronil), per day. In other words, quite a lot. If someone’s eating habits are such that their one-year-old eats 210 g of biscuits daily, or they themselves eat a kilogram and a half daily, the presence of Fipronil in eggs wouldn’t be their biggest health concern.

FAO reports that in 2016, 81 million tons of eggs were produced globally (FAO, 2019). Let me write that number in kilograms: 81,000,000,000 kg of eggs. A large egg weighs about 73 g (UN, 2010). If we divide the total weight of eggs by the weight of one egg, we get the number 1,109,589,041,096. I broke a sweat seeing this number — humanity produces over one trillion, one hundred billion, five hundred eighty-nine million, forty-one thousand and ninety-six eggs annually.

Considering that number, can we expect absolutely every egg to be flawless?

That would be impossible.

And here we come to the essential realization regarding food safety:

Incidents in the food industry are proof that the system works, not the opposite.

Namely, these are incidents, not the rule.

All the effort that colleagues invest in developing new production and analytical methods, or revising laws, is a consequence of the fact that in the game of large numbers, the chance that something will go wrong increases.

I cannot finish this commentary without mentioning that the majority of samples tested in the Fipronil incident complied with legal regulations. Despite this, several million eggs were withdrawn from sale. So, next time skepticism towards science overwhelms you, know that we’ve probably already beaten you to it.

You cannot influence food safety much. However, you can influence the quality of your diet. Find out how good your diet is by filling out the short questionnaire below.

References

  1. Euractiv (2018a) Porijeklo namirnica nedovoljno propisano u novim EU regulativama o hrani. https://euractiv.jutarnji.hr/HiP/hrana/porijeklo-namirnica-nedovoljno-propisano-u-novim-eu-regulativama-o-hrani/8085320/ Pristupljeno: 10. lip. 2019.
  2. Euractiv (2018b) EU’s new draft food law weak on traceability. https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/food-scandals-consumer-protection-campaigners-criticise-gaps-in-eu-law/ Pristupljeno: 10. lip. 2019.
  3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2019) http://www.fao.org/poultry-production-products/production/en/ Pristupljeno 12. lip. 2019.
  4. Joint Research Center (2017) http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC110632/jrc110632_final.pdf Pristupljeno: 10. lip. 2019
  5. Remax Pty Ltd (2019) https://www.remaxproducts.com.au/warehouse-management-blog/bid/397484/5-reasons-why-traceability-is-crucial-to-the-food-production-chain-and-how-to-make-it-work-for-you Pristupljeno: 29. kol. 2022.
  6. Ujedinjene Nacije (UN) (2010) Marketinški i standardi kvalitete jaja u ljusci. http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trade/agr/standard/eggs/Standards/EGG01_EggsInShell_2010E.pdf Pristupljeno 12. lip. 2019.
  7. Wiley (2019) https://www.dummies.com/education/science/chemistry/ap-chemistry-an-overview-of-common-lab-equipment/ Pristupljeno 10. lip. 2019.