Food

Food

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY
FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES*

I. INTRODUCTION

1. "We are what we eat" is an old proverb. Our nutritional status, health, physical and mental faculties depend on the food we eat and how we eat it. Access to good quality food has been man's main endeavour from the earliest days of human existence. Safety of food is a basic requirement of food quality. "Food safety" implies absence or acceptable and safe levels of contaminants, adulterants, naturally occurring toxins or any other substance that may make food injurious to health on an acute or chronic basis. Food quality can be considered as a complex characteristic of food that determines its value or acceptability to consumers. Besides safety, quality attributes include: nutritional value; organoleptic properties such as appearance, color, texture, taste; and functional properties.
2. Food systems in developing countries are not always as well organized and developed as in the industrialized world. Moreover, problems of growing population, urbanization, lack of resources to deal with pre- and post- harvest losses in food, and problems of environmental and food hygiene mean that food systems in developing countries continue to be stressed, adversely affecting quality and safety of food supplies. People in developing countries are therefore exposed to a wide range of potential food quality and safety risks. This paper discusses the special problems of food quality and safety in developing countries as well as their impact on food security and presents ways and means of dealing with these problems.

II. FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY CONTROL AND FOOD SECURITY

3. In 2020, the world population will most likely reach 7.6 billion, an increase of 31% over the mid-1996 population of 5.8 billion¹. Approximately 98% of the projected population growth over this period will take place in developing countries. It has also been estimated that between the years 1995 and 2020 the developing world's urban population will double, reaching 3.4 billion². This overall increase in population and in the urban population in particular, poses great challenges to food systems. Intensification of agriculture and animal husbandry; more efficient food handling, processing and distribution systems; introduction of newer technologies including appropriate application of biotechnology will all have to be exploited to increase food availability to meet the needs of growing populations. Some of these practices and technologies may also pose potential problems of food safety and nutritional quality and call for special attention in order to ensure consumer protection.
4. Rapid urbanization has led urban services to be stretched beyond their limits, resulting in inadequate supplies of potable water, sewage disposal and other necessary services. This scenario further stresses food distribution systems as greatly increased quantities of food must be transported from rural to urban locations in an environment that is not conducive to hygiene and sanitation. The issue of street foods merits special attention. Recent growth in this sector has been phenomenal with important economic and nutritional implications in the urban context. Street foods are readily accessible and affordable to urban populations, and they provide the energy and nutrient needs of large segments of workers and their families in the cities. Clean and nutritious street foods have a positive impact on food security; low quality and unsafe street foods can have a negative impact. National and local authorities should take cognizance of the potential of this informal sector to improve food security. In many cases, facilities and training 
need to be provided for hygienic handling of street foods to assure their safety and quality. 

5. It is often said that the poor will consume "anything" to mitigate their hunger. This may or may not be true. To the extent that this phenomenon exists, it only indicates the trade-off which people may face in difficult situations. On the one hand, survival may depend mainly on access to a minimum quantity of food. On the other hand, consumption of food which does not meet minimum safety standards, can also jeopardize survival. Governments must take the necessary steps through national food security policies, systems and programmes to ensure that food quality and safety considerations form an integral part of their food security system. At present many countries lack comprehensive national food quality and safety regulations. In weighing the gains against the cost of comprehensive food quality and safety standards, countries may conclude that given their social and economic level of development, the cost of certain standards are high relative to the gains, especially if these higher costs have to be borne by the poor themselves. Nevertheless, some developing countries, with FAO technical assistance, have adopted and implemented comprehensive national food quality and safety standards based on the international recommended Codex Alimentarius Commission standards, guidelines and codes of practice. These countries have immediately benefited from higher levels of investment in the food sector, better acceptance by consumers of higher quality and safer domestically produced raw and processed foods, and greatly improved access to foreign markets for their food exports. Meeting these Codex-based standards has also increased efficiency in food production, processing and distribution, promoted a lower cost domestic supply of good quality and safe foods, reduced food loss problems and greatly increased export earnings.
6. The essence of all national food laws in industrialized and developing countries alike, is based on the following basic provision, which may be worded differently but has similar intent: "Any person who sells to the prejudice of the purchaser any food which is not of the nature or is not of the substance, or is not of the quality of the food demanded by the purchaser, shall be guilty of an offence ------" Such legislation establishes the will of the governments to protect their populations from unsafe and adulterated foods. This is achieved through appropriate food control measures based on well- defined food regulations covering quality and safety of food and its honest presentation to the consumer. Any steps taken by governments to strengthen these activities would significantly help in meeting food security needs and their commitments at the WFS.
7. In all countries the food industry bears the responsibility of meeting food quality and safety regulatory requirements. The food industry encompasses the activities of small-scale farmers and artisanal fisheries, through medium to large-scale producers; food storage; processing; wholesale and retail marketing. Food chains can be as short as from the home garden to the family table or thousands of kilometers long with many intermediaries. Food preservation, processing and packaging systems can be minimal or highly sophisticated, but assuring food quality and safety in all situations should be a constant. Industry must play its role in assuring food quality and safety through the application of quality assurance and risk-based food safety systems utilizing current scientific knowledge. The implementation of such controls throughout production, handling, processing and marketing leads to improved food quality and safety, increased competitiveness; and, reduction in cost of production and wastage. Through national food control systems, governments should provide a supporting infrastructure and assume an advisory and regulatory role.