Reform of food safety legislation vital, says commission

THE European Commission is currently in the middle of the most comprehensive root and branch reform of food safety legislation for over a quarter of a century.

Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne said it was doing so on the back of several food-related crises, including BSE and dioxin. Mr Byrne, speaking at a meeting in Dublin with the broad-based Department of Agriculture and Food Consumer Liaison Panel, with Mairead McGuinness as chairperson, said the consumers' day had arrived in policy-making terms.

He said the commission was therefore creating a new comprehensive regulatory framework for food safety Many of the building blocks are now in place and many more are in the pipeline - such as initiatives on food and feed control, food labelling, hygiene, GM foods, fortified and nutritional and health-related claims.