Healthy Food for Europe's Citizens

Europe on the move
Directorate-General for Education and Culture
EN
Healthy food
for Europe's citizens
The European Union and food quality
The quality of the food we eat
has become one of the biggest
concerns for Europe’s citizens.
This brochure explains the role
of the European Union (EU) in
maintaining the highest
standards of food safety and
quality.
The EU agricultural policy
encourages farmers to produce
a large choice of quality
foodstuff, including organic
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production. European-wide
3
legislation serves to keep food
free of harmful substances and
to keep consumers well
PH-26-99-23
informed though the labels on the food. The EU Food and Veterinary
Office monitors whether safety rules are followed. Also, the EU acti-
vities related to new technology and to the global trade rules
1-EN-C
have an impact on our daily food.
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Healthy food
for Europe’s citizens
The European Union and food quality

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Contents
The European Union and food quality
3
Farming policy: from quantity to quality
5
Legislating for food safety and quality
8
Monitoring food safety controls:
the EU Food and Veterinary Office
11
Helping consumers to choose healthy, safe food
14
Food quality and international trade
16
Harnessing the potential of new technologies
18
Using science to improve food safety and quality:
research and development
20
Further reading
22

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The European Union and food quality
Over the last few decades, the public has become increasingly
concerned about food safety and quality. Consumers want to be
sure that the food they buy in supermarkets or eat in restaurants
is safe, nutritious and wholesome, as well as being produced to a
certain standard. Events like the outbreak of BSE or ‘mad cow’
disease or the crisis about dioxin in food have increased overall
anxiety about food safety. In addition to safety issues, more peo-
ple are focusing on the quality of the food they eat. Consumers
are demanding the highest possible standards from farmers, food
companies and retailers. They are also showing more interest in
how and where food is produced, with growing demand for
organic produce or meat from animals reared under very high
welfare standards.
Addressing consumers’ safety concerns and quality expectations
is a major responsibility for the European Union. Over the last 40
years, the EU has developed a comprehensive set of rules, stan-
dards and monitoring practices to guarantee that the food we
eat is as safe and appetising as possible. The Union is involved in
measures at every stage in the food manufacturing process, from
the farm to the factory to the fork, to ensure that what we eat
is safe and healthy. Some of the tasks are carried out by the
industry itself, some by the Member States, and others by the
European Commission and the special agencies and bodies it
controls. However, the Commission has overall responsibility for
ensuring that standards are applied equally across the Union.
The system has developed a great deal in the last 10 years,
partly in response to food crises, but also because the EU has
created a single market in foodstuffs, meaning that all internal
barriers to trade within the EU have been scrapped. As the Union
now only has one single frontier for all imports, the EU is
responsible for ensuring that foodstuffs from outside the EU are
as safe as those produced in the Member States. The Commission
also represents the interests of the Union’s consumers in
international bodies dealing with trade issues, food standards or
health questions such as animal diseases.
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Healthy food for Europe’s citizens
This brochure seeks to explain what the Union does at each stage
of the process to maintain the highest standards of food safety
and quality.
What we eat: Average food consumption, kg/person in the EU, 1998.
(‘) litre/person.
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Farming policy: from quantity to quality
The first place to start promoting
high food safety and quality stan-
dards is, of course, on the farm itself.
Through the common agricultural
policy (CAP), the European Union
encourages farmers to produce high
quality agricultural products across
the whole spectrum, ranging from
meat and dairy products to cereals,
fruit and vegetables. Over the past
decade, the CAP has been modified
to put greater emphasis on meeting
consumers’ quality expectations.
As well as producing adequate sup-
plies of safe, wholesome food, one of
the key aims of the CAP is to provide
farmers with a decent living by guar-
anteeing them a stable market for
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their products. When the policy was
first created, the main instrument for
higher it will secure them a better
The EU agricultural
achieving its aims was price support,
price on the market. The policy
policy induces farmers
whereby farmers would be guaran-
means that farmers can respond to
to improve the quality
teed a certain return when selling
consumers’ demands for greater
of food
their products. This led to the criti-
choice and diversity of products.
cism, however, that the CAP encour-
aged farmers to produce as much as
Other elements of the CAP reward
possible, without taking account of
farmers for less intensive production.
the quality of what they grew. While
Livestock farmers receive higher pay-
this criticism was exaggerated, the
ments if they keep the number of
CAP now offers many incentives for
animals in their holdings within set
farmers to improve the quality of
limits.
their production.
Stronger emphasis on quality
Price support is now a less important
part of how the CAP operates while
The thinking behind the CAP has also
the practice of buying up product
changed. Originally designed to
surpluses has been scaled back. This
eliminate the food shortages of the
means that farmers have more incen-
post-war period, the policy has been
tive to respond to market demands
adapted to recognise the multi-
for different types and standards of
functional role that agriculture plays
agricultural products. If the quality
in European society. Farmers are not
of the meat or cereals they produce is
just producers of food. They also
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Healthy food for Europe’s citizens
provide a vital service in protecting
duction through the European
the natural environment and pre-
Union’s rural development policy.
serving the rural heritage which all
of us can enjoy. These responsibilities
This aims to increase the competi-
mean additional costs for farmers
tiveness of farming and promote
such as requiring them to continue
employment opportunities for the
to farm in adverse conditions where
rural population.
the land is poor, for example. In
recognition of this, the CAP aims to
Rural development schemes offer
compensate farmers for providing
special funding to help farmers
these services, which in turn has a
upgrade the quality of their produc-
beneficial effect on food quality.
tion and their marketing efforts, so
that they can secure a better price
By keeping farming alive in all parts
from consumers for their goods.
of the Union, it ensures a greater
Funds are also available to develop
degree of diversity of food products
markets for niche products, especial-
and types of farming than in other
ly those with special regional charac-
parts of the world where economic
teristics which are valued by con-
factors may have a stronger influ-
sumers. The EU can offer additional
ence in policy-making.
help through labelling schemes
which provide consumers with assur-
Following the incident involving con-
ances about how and where food-
tamination of foodstuffs with dioxin
stuffs are produced.
in 1999, which was traced to adulter-
ated animal feed, the EU is also plan-
Organic farming on the rise
ning to tighten up controls on animal
rations.
Over recent years, consumer demand
for organic products has increased
Opportunities for rural areas
dramatically. By ‘organic’ we mean
The strong growth in
foodstuffs which have been pro-
organic farming is
encouraged
Farmers also receive extra incentives
duced without using many of the
by the EU rules
to improve the quality of their pro-
chemical pesticides and herbicides
and animal medicines used in farm-
ing today. Sales of organic foodstuffs
have grown by around 40 % a year
and now account for 3 % of all trade
in food in the European Union. The
area of organically farmed land tre-
bled between 1993 and 1997 to
reach 2.2 million hectares. To encour-
age the growth of organic produc-
tion and to improve consumers’ safe-
guards when they buy organic pro-
duce, the European Union has laid
down a set of rules governing organ-
ic production.
These include the types of products
which can be used to treat plants or
soil in the case of cereals or fruit and
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vegetables, and the types of feed and
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animal medicines which can be used
in animal production. Given that
some products can leave residues in
soil for a long time after use, the EU
also requires farmers to have fol-
lowed these guidelines for at least
two years before their products can
qualify as organic. The same rules
apply to products imported from
outside the European Union which
are marketed as ‘organic’.
To ensure that consumers know what
they are getting when they buy
products claiming to be organic, the
European Union has also established
rules for labelling. Although labels
can vary from one EU country to
another, they must bear the words
‘Organic farming—EEC control sys-
tem’ which is proof that a grower has
met EU requirements and has been
subject to controls by national
authorities. In 1999 an EU-wide
‘organic’ label was also agreed.
Since the transition to organic pro-
duction takes two or more years, the
EU offers various forms of support to
farmers wishing to switch from con-
ventional production methods. Most
of the funding comes from the EU’s
budget for agri-environmental mea-
sures which provides aid for farmers
Clear signs: An EU-wide
label for organic
who work in a way which reduces the
products was adopted
impact on the environment. Funds to
in 1999 as an addition
support organic farmers account for
to national labelling
8 % of the total agri-environment
systems. The label is
budget and farmers can receive pay-
put on the food
ments of up to 900 euro per hectare
package in the
to compensate them for the short-
language which is
term economic losses of switching to
normal, at the place
organic production.
where the food is
bought. Two alternative
wordings exist in the
German language.
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Healthy food for Europe’s citizens
Legislating for food safety and quality
to assess on the basis of objective cri-
teria. The other is that the foodstuff
should satisfy consumers’ expecta-
tions in terms of taste or other sub-
jective criteria. The European Union’s
approach to ensuring food quality
reflects these two considerations.
Safety rules
In terms of ensuring the safety
aspects of food quality, the European
Union has at its disposal a vast range
of legislation which applies to food-
stuffs, additives, vitamins, mineral
salts and all substances which come
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manufacturing process. There are 11
The diverse eating
There are two aspects to food quali-
‘regulations’ or pieces of EU legisla-
traditions across
ty. One is that foodstuffs should be
tion concerning veterinary controls
Europe can help to
free of harmful or undesirable sub-
alone. The EU decides which products
give consumers a
stances such as microbes, chemicals
are authorised to be used in food
large choice of food
or other products used in the pro-
production and whether these sub-
duction process. This is relatively easy
stances pose a risk to human health
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