Research OnNational Food Safety Standard System Construction

ObjectiveThis study puts forward suggestions on basic principles and system framework in construction of China’s food safety standard system, by analyzing the current status and existing problems of food standard system in China, gaining experience from food safety technical regulations and standard systems within international organizations and developed countries, and taking the development level of China’s food industry and the actual needs of food safety supervision into consideration. It provides theoretical basis and reference for government departments to carry out the food standards clean-up projects and improve China’s food safety standard system.Methods1. Literature Analysis and Comparative Study:A comprehensive literature review on domestic and international food safety laws, regulations, standards and technical documents was conducted and the specific characteristics of food safety regulations and standard systems among China, international organizations and developed countries were analysed in order to find out the areas for improvement in China’s food safety standard system.2. Questionnaire Survey and Expert Consultation:A survey was carried out among415experts from government, professional institutions and the food industry/enterprises using the National Food Safety StandardSystem Construction Consultation Questionnaire designed and published in the name of the Secritariat of National Food Safety Standard Committee. The results of this survey were analysed quantificationally.3. In-depth Interviews:The interview topics were developed specificallybased on the results of expert consultation and then the In-depth Interviews were carried out among25authorities who were engaged in the food safety standard related affairs and familiar with the food standard system in China to learn their opinions on the basic principles, framework structure and other important issues during the construction of national food safety standard system.4. Data Handling and Statistical Analysis Methodologies:SO JUMP, a questionnaire survey system,was used to collect and verify the data of questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and statistical inference were used in the analysis of questionnaire results, in order to examine the authorities of experts, coordination coefficient of expert advices, as well as the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, and sort quantitative indicators by their normalized weights, etc.Results1. Among the current food standards,5264were effective. Classified according to the properties of the standard, there were2248(42.71%) national standards, including722mandatory national standards,1521recommended national standards,5directive standards, and2931(55.68%) industry standards (among which781were mandatory industry standards and2150were recommended industry standards); classified according toadministration of standards,688(13.07%) standards were administered by the Ministry of Health,1308(24.85%) were administered by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine,1307(24.83%) were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture; classified according to the standard contents,2443were standards for physical and chemical testing methods,1208for food product,523for food additive,401for food production and operation specification,399for food related products, and215for microbial test methods. Numerous food standards which almost covered all food related areas in China were found during our comprehensive evaluation, with low possibility of missing important food related standards. However, the current food standard system was sometimes in disorder due to the multi-sector management and numerous types and levels existed in the system. As a result of which, crossover, duplicationand contradiction among food hygiene standards, food quality standards, edible agricultural products qualitystandards, and food industry standards might occur.2. Under the research on food safety standard systems of international organizations and developed countries, we understood that all food safety standards in developed countries were mandatory technical regulations developed and published by government. Meanwhile, all food safety standard published by international organizations were developed on the basis of food safety risk assessment results. The contents of the food safety standard system of China was basically consistent with that of international organizations and the main developed countries, which all contained the controls of food production process, pathogens, contaminants, pesticide/veterinary drug residues in food, as well as the management of food additives, nutrient supplements, novel food, and irradiated food, etc. Whereas in Codex Alimentarius Commission and developed countries, the control of hazardous substances in food were more relied on the standards for food production processes control, instead of the standards for food final product limit standards, resulting in fewer food production standards needed, which was a big difference from China. With respect to the food test methods, instead of developing specific methods, the Codex only developed the general principles for food test methods. No mandatory standards for food test methods were set up in major developed countries, they only recommended or recognized the use of food test methods published by international organizations. While in China, the Food Safety Law states that food test methods should be mandatory food safety standards.3. Based on the results of expert consultations and in-depth interviews, we recommended that limits of contaminants, mycotoxins,pathogenic microorganisms, veterinary drug residues, pesticide residues, as well as the types, ranges and limits of food additives and nutrient supplements used in food should be preferablyconsidered in the construction of national food safety standards system. This study proposed the primary categories of the national food safety standard system framework, including the basic (general) standards, food product standards, food additive product standards, food related product standards, code of practice, test methods and procedures, etc.4. For the development of food product standards, more attention should be paied to theirconnection with the basic (general) standards, as well as to the coverages of product standards. No food safety standards specific to products under main food categories should be developed unless safety requirements for these foods are higher. Food product standards should be developedby quoting the contents of basic (general) standards as much as possible.5. For food additive product standards, it was more practical to develop product standards for each type of food additive, while development of general standards based on the categories of food additives was more reasonable when the product categories and process requirements could be integrated. 6. With respect to food related product, safety standards should be developed according to the main categories of food related products. Meanwhile, under certain circumstances, developing safety standards based on lower categories was also accepted.7. For production and operation specification standards, the most important task was to improve the general production and operation specification, after which the need of developing specific standards and guidelines should be considered in the context of safety requirements and contaminants. During the development of production operation specification standards, harmonization with food production standards, and consistency with relevantlaws and regulations on quality and safety of agricultural products, should also be evaluated.8. The test method standardscould be developed according to the classification of food products, food related products, test projects, aswell as by integrally taking the classification of food products, food related products and the test items into consideration.Conclusions1. Food safety supervision in China was impacted by the crossover, duplicationand contradiction existed among current food related standards, and different principles followed in developing standards for differentfood products. It is urgent to establish a scientific, reasonable and feasible framework for national food safety standardsystems, in order to guide the clean-up projects, developments and revisions for the food safety standards.2. The principles for food safety regulation and standard system constructions of international organizations and developed countries were basically the same and developed based on the risk assessment. The contents of their frameworks covered three main aspects, including basic (general) standards, product standards and process control specifications, which were basically the same with that of China’s national food safety standard system. However, they paid more attention to the construction of food production process control specification, from which we could gain experience.3. The framework for China’s national food safety standard system proposed in our research includedbasic (general) standards, food product standards, food additives product standards, food-related product standards, food production and operation specifications, test methods and procedures, and so on. The study presented the basic principles for each food category, which not only covered the whole process of the food chain from farmtotable, but also was consistent with China’s situations, meeting the basic needs of China’s food safety supervision.Innovations of this research1.This research comprehensively and systematically analyzed the food safety regulation standard systems and construction processes among China, international organizations, and major developed countries for the first time, by comparing the generality and individuality of the domestic and international food safety system frameworks, which will provide a reference for construction of national food safety standard system in China;2.Also, this research firstly proposed seven aspects of recommendations on framework construction of national food safety standard system, includingbasic (general) standards, food product standards, food-related product standards, food additives product standards, food production and operation specifications, test methods and procedures, etc., as well as the suggestionson basic principles for standard development of each food category;3.Third, it’s the first time that one research has explored the construction of national food safety standard system framework quantitatively and qualitatively by incorporating four study methods (literature analysis, comparative study, expert consultation, in-depth interview), which proposed a new approach for studies of food safety standard system. A number of experts from different fields, involving government supervision departments, professional technical institutions, the food industry/enterprises, were enrolled in this study, representing the administration departments and users of food safety standards.According to the study results, these experts represented their fields well and had high authority.