EFSA chairman calls for public-private collaboration

Closer collaboration between the food industry and the public sector over food safety issues has been called for by chairman of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) professor Patrick Wall.

Speaking at a food safety conference last Friday organised by CIES, the Food Business Forum, Wall questioned why the industry and public sector bodies held separate conferences to discuss similar issues. “There is an issue there for more interaction,” he said.

While accepting that those working in the industry and those employed by regulatory bodies frequently had different mindsets, he said: “We have to avail every opportunity for having dialogue - and we’ve got to do it during peace time.” The clear implication was that it was too late once a crisis had occurred.

The goals might be safer food and healthier people, he said. “But we want solutions that are compatible with business and we need evidence- and risk-based policy.”

Wall also called for greater international scientific collaboration and agreement on food safety issues. “There is a bit of work to be done there,” he said. With increasing globalisation in particular, consistent science was crucial, he added.

Wall gave specific examples where scientific developments created the need for more consensus. He cited disputes between the US and Europe over genetically modified organisms; the ability to DNA fingerprint bugs and the introduction of new compounds. The capability to detect contaminants at lower and lower levels and new technologies such as cloning and nanotechnology were also controversial issues, he added. “It’s a big, big challenge.” he added.

And he raised the prospect of a new discipline - the disease detective. “You can run. but you can’t hide now from these disease detectives.” He added that whatever controls were in place: “Your brand is as secure as your weakest supplier.” And the price of failure was substantial: “If you kill people, you are going to prison.”