Publication date: November 14, 2024
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)
Under Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 (OJ EU L. of 2002 No. 31, p. 1, as amended), RASFF was established, a system for notifying direct or indirect danger to human health deriving from food or feed. Thanks to product testing and notifications in the RASFF system, non-compliant products posing a risk to humans are withdrawn from the market. Information is entered into the system on food, feed and food contact materials that are potentially dangerous to human health, animals or the environment and follow-up actions as a result of identifying such products. Due to the type of identified threats that appear in the system, RASFF is an important source of information on product safety. Substances are identified in imported products that, if consumed by humans, may cause serious, negative health effects.
The principles of operation of RASFF are specified in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 of 30 September 2019 laying down rules for the operation of the information management system for official controls and its system components (OJ EU. L. of 2019, No. 261, p. 37, as amended). Each Member State is required to designate at least one liaison body to provide assistance and coordinate the flow of information between competent authorities in different Member States.
When a problem is detected, it is up to national food authorities to take action. This includes any action necessary to immediately address the risk, but also to prevent a similar risk from occurring again.
Information on notifications is published in the public RASFF database and relates to: product type, identified hazards, analytical results, if available, country of origin of products, countries to which the product has been supplied, country reporting the notification, basis for reporting the notification, actions taken and distribution status reported by RASFF network members to the contact point. Consumers can track notifications in the RASFF system through a portal publicly available to consumers, which has been available since June 2014. Detailed information on the identity of individual companies is not made public.
In Poland, pursuant to Article 85 of the Act of 25 August 2006 on food and nutrition safety, the Chief Sanitary Inspector manages the RASFF network and:
It should be remembered that the producer or other entity introducing the product to the market (e.g. importer) is responsible for food safety in Poland. It is their responsibility to ensure procedures and safeguards that minimize the risk of contamination. It is worth remembering that dietary supplements are also considered as food – they supplement the diet with missing nutrients.
When there are suspicions that a given food may pose a health risk and is in circulation and/or in the possession of consumers, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate informs the public by publishing public warnings (notifications) on the office’s website in the Warnings tab. Their content indicates the name of the food and its type (manufacturer’s name, batch number, expiry date), the characteristics of the risk and the measures taken to prevent the spread of risk, including recommendations for the consumer.
Detection of irregularities is always connected with explanatory proceedings. Food control authorities check what the cause was and whether, in addition to the batch in which the non-conformity was found, the same irregularities do not apply to other manufactured products. The manufacturer or importer will have to take effective measures to prevent the problem from recurring. They will also be subject to more frequent inspections in the future.
Ensuring food safety is associated with the fact that food will not cause harm to the consumer when prepared and/or consumed as intended. In addition, in accordance with the definition contained in the Act of 25 August 2006 on the safety of food and nutrition, food safety is understood as all conditions that must be met, concerning in particular:
and ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on the origin, composition and use of food and its labelling (European Commission, 30/03/2022).
When deciding that a given food is injurious to health, account should be taken, as indicated in Article 14, paragraph 4 of Regulation No. 178/2002, of the probable, immediate, short-term or long-term effects of that food on the health of the person consuming it, but also on subsequent generations, possible cumulative toxicity effects, as well as the particular health sensitivity of a specific category of consumers, if the food is intended for that category of consumers. On the other hand, in accordance with Article 14, paragraph 5 of Regulation No. 178/2002, when deciding that a food is unfit for human consumption, account should be taken of whether the food cannot be consumed by humans in accordance with its intended purpose because of contamination, whether by foreign agents or otherwise, or because of putrefaction, spoilage or decomposition.
Therefore, the safety of food should be assessed taking into account its purpose, which is human consumption, the circumstances of its preparation and consumption, the accumulation of undesirable ingredients, the average frequency and volume of consumption of a specific product, as well as whether the product is intended for a specific group of consumers.
It is important that food producers and distributors take all necessary measures and procedures to ensure that their products are safe to eat and meet all quality standards. Negligence in this area can lead to negative financial consequences, associated with the need to withdraw the product from circulation, as well as legal consequences resulting from product liability. The company whose data appears on the packaging must be aware of the resulting consequences, which is mainly regulated by the provision of Article 8 of Regulation No. 1169/2011 (OJ EU. L. of 2011 No. 304, p. 18, as amended).