Food Safety Concerns Us All

How many times have we had a stomachache or felt nausea and thought: “I must have eaten something bad“?

We are often not aware that what we eat and drink is highly important, not only from the aspect of nutritional content but also from the aspect of food safety.

In the 21^st century, when around 7,7 billion people are living on this planet, it presents a big challenge to produce sufficient amounts of safe food.

As far back as the 60-ties food industry experts have recognized this challenge, and on their initiative the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have established the Codex Alimentarius Commission (a collection of international standards and guidelines on food which ensure safety and quality).

On the importance of establishing of Codex Alimentarius best speaks the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations from the 1985, in which food is identified as one of the three priorities the health of people and which, in light of this, highlights the fact that the Codex Alimentarius is the referent point for food safety issues.

Codex Alimentarius Commission has recommended HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) as the system devised to ensure human food safety, by defining and establishing control over the critical control points in the process “From the field to the table”.

The origin of the HACCP system is related to the development of astronaut food within the American Space Program. The aim of this project was to produce fully safe astronaut food, without the presence of pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins.

The HACCP system is today an internationally recognized system for food safety, implemented by all food industries as well as all those who are taking part in the supply chain.

It is estimated that today 600 million people, almost 1 out of 10, get sick after consuming  contaminated food, and that 420 000 people die from this cause each year.

Nelt, as the leading logistics distribution company in the Western Balkans, has recognized its place in the food supply chain and in compliance with this, implemented and certified the internationally recognized HACCP for food safety management. We have the responsibility to (on a daily basis) storage, transport and distribute raw material and final products of the food industry, in an adequate manner, in order to ensure food safety all the way to end users.

Food safety is not something that concerns only food producers and it does not begin and end in the food industry. Food safety is an important aspect of everyday life, because we consume food each day. The daily routine, which consists of, for example, washing hands prior to handling of food, enhances its safety. It is important that everyone who is in the production, processing, distribution chain, as well as the end users, understand the importance of honoring the main principles of food safety in order to avoid and prevent food poisoning or, in the last instance, death of people.

Food safety concerns all food consumers and it is our basic human right to have access to safe and healthy food.