Food safety
"We expect from foods that they will provide health, well-being and pleasure. And today, we feel that an absence of any chemical or microbiological risks will be ensured. However, several recent crises or alerts (BSE, dioxin, listeriosis) have shattered the confidence of our fellow citizens. Because microbiological and chemical safety remains the prime demand from consumers.
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... Risk prevention is an essential concern of professionals in the food industry. Any accident can result in economic loss and a major deterioration in brand image. Such prevention is based on the strict monitoring of procedures
throughout the production chain, and on the existence of permanent controls performed by independent organisations. Nevertheless, technological innovations, the import of new raw materials, changes to distribution and consumption practices, and an increase in the number of high-risk consumers (the elderly, those who are immunodepressed or allergic) are constantly contributing to the emergence of new dangers. At INRA, the major
challenge is to anticipate these risks in the food industry, and to develop methods for their prevention and detection in partnership with technical centres and industrialists".
Xavier Leverve
Scientific Director, Human Nutrition
and Food Safety |
