Cronobacter and Other Disasters – Part III

In Part I and Part II of this series we have learned about hesitant competent authorities and food inspectors in the US and Germany that could have contributed to the death of several infants and adults.

So we’ve seen the bad examples. In this final blog on “Cronobacter and other disasters”, we will take a look at good examples: competent authorities that stand out because of their proactiveness, actions and transparency.

Let’s start with the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). They have formed their own task force when it comes to food fraud. And unlike the competent authorities of other EU countries, this task force has police-like powers. They can pay you a visit and raid your premises if they have sufficient evidence that you are committing food fraud. And they talk about their actions. It serves as a reminder to fraudsters that committing food fraud is a crime. They even have a podcast on food fraud on Spotify (in Dutch language). They also maintain several twitter accounts and actively report on their latest “catch”. Their actions are clearly a notch above the rest.

My absolute – personal – favourite though is the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). There are three reasons they are my favourite: (a) transparency of their actions (2) communication with stakeholders (3) proactiveness, especially in crisis situations.

Transparency

While many competent authorities shy away from naming and shaming severe offenders, the Irish Authorities publish, for example, the full inspection report. Only for reasons of data protection, they redact small parts. As one example, recent closure orders can be downloaded from their website. Here, again, they go beyond: they publish the entire food hygiene report. Their website is well structured, so the information is easy to find. But they go even further.

Communication & Training

They publish the information on popular social media channels on a very regular basis, and with pictures that create attention. Their Instagram channel has more than 2000 followers, and this was their post communicating about the closures (Instagram account required).

Communicating this way certainly reaches the desired audience: those businesses that are compliant, but especially those that are not. And more than that: it clearly demonstrates to Irish consumers that their agency enforces food standards to protect them.

In addition to communication, FSAI also offers free training courses (online) on various topics. I have copied here the forthcoming one for food business operators to help them safely determine the shelf-life of the products they manufacture. (Registration is still open at the time of posting this).

Proactiveness

Their staff very actively engages in specific aspects of their protection program. One example is Peter Whelan who is involved in a number of national and international anti-food-fraud activities and his name and reputation go well beyond the borders of Ireland. Another example is Patrick O’Mahony who has actively contributed to shaping the recent FAO/WHO risk assessment on Food Allergens. And when the corona pandemic hit, FSAI quickly established a group to look at the food supply chain impact (and the resulting risk of food fraud) to protect their consumers.