22/02/12: Arsenic found in US infant formulas and cereal bars
21/02/12: Jimmy John’s Permanently Dropping Sprouts From Menus
21/02/12: EU: Food safety authority urges sprout safety notification
19/02/12: Ensure food safety by March 7, roadside eateries told
19/02/12: Farmers, food safety groups to protest against ractopamine use
19/02/12: Woman found guilty of food tampering
18/02/12: “Glue” shrimps latest food scandal in China
In short, regulation aims to deliver fixed safety outcomes. Food safety expectations are generally similar for all the different stakeholder groups, but not always completely aligned.
Consumers want
• to have confidence in the safety of the food they buy and eat
Businesses want
• to gain and retain consumer confidence
• to access local, interstate and/or international markets for their products
• to experience minimal compliance costs and government ‘red tape’
• to have predictability and certainty through a consistent experience of food regulation across jurisdictions
• value-for-money intervention by food regulators at appropriate intervals
Governments want
• to achieve the best possible public health outcome
• maximum market access for country’s food products