The UK′s Food Chemical Surveillance Programme

Abstract

Summarizes the UK′s food chemical surveillance programme. This programme is an extensive series of checks, tests and analyses (approximately 130,000 per annum) designed to monitor the safety and quality of the UK′s food supply. The paper describes the scale of the programme and its management through the Steering Group on Chemical Aspects of Food Surveillance (SGCAFS) and its 11 working parties‐which cover the wide range of food surveillance activities including chemical contaminants, natural toxicants, nutrition, food additives, radionuclides and authenticity. Although the programme′s results are generally reassuring, important information is produced on emerging potential problems. Provides examples where this surveillance has enabled these potential problems to be identified and appropriate remedial action taken. Describes the extensive publication of surveillance data through the Food Surveillance Paper series (HMSO) and reports on the recent Ministerial decision for the rapid publication of the most important food surveillance data.

Citation

Atkins, D. (1994), "The UK′s Food Chemical Surveillance Programme", British Food Journal, Vol. 96 No. 2, pp. 24-29. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070709410059116