9. Preventative measures

This gave rise to another scandal, in the area of organic production, with extensive recall actions as a result. The affected companies could be identified exactly in the beginning. The database system developed by KAT at the time, striving to safeguard traceability, as well as the newly introduced identification measures for individual eggs with origin labelling, proved to be an effective preventative measure. For the first time, it was possible to recall contaminated

The affected companies suffered significant losses, even threatening their very existence, but managed to rebuild trust through consistent action-taking. There was an awareness that product traceability is one of the most important food safety criteria in crisis situations. This led to the EC decision to adopt individual egg labelling as a binding requirement for egg

The dioxin crisis of 2011 took place under similar circumstances. Affected companies were closed, and recall actions were initiated. Media pressure was enormous, and consumers were requested to either return or destroy food, primarily eggs and poultry. Thanks to KAT and the mandatory producer code printed on each egg [16], the eggs origins could be traced. The names of the affected companies—publicly traceable through the code—were disclosed by authorities with an accompanying warning. However, the eggs already reached consumers' refrigerators, as the dioxin was discovered in November, but the authorities did not inform consumers of dioxin residue hazards until January 2012. At this point, most eggs were already consumed. Similar recall actions were initiated for poultry; however, this proved to be significantly more difficult as poultry was not distributed using the same traceability system as the KAT individual egg labelling system. This led to immense reputation damage, as well as more critical consumer attitudes, and in turn reduced egg consumption. Interestingly, the organic food industry benefited from this, as consumers expected that the organic industry adhered to stronger regulations and was subject to more stringent controls, improv-

At the end of 2014, the organic food industry was rattled by several events. Residues of a corrosive agent and a fungal toxin were discovered, and the products of numerous companies were stripped of the right to be sold with an organic seal as a result. The contaminated feed, still labelled as 'organic' by a Dutch distributor, had been distributed to organic farmers in

A total of 2000 tonnes of affected feed, sunflower cake, was distributed by a Dutch distributor as organic feed. Organically producing laying hen companies, as well as pig, cattle and sheep

There are no special restrictions for pesticide in place in conventional farming, quite different from organic production, which uses stricter standards. The affected companies faced grave consequences. Goods that had already been delivered were recalled by regional authorities, and goods that were being produced currently could not be distributed for a certain period. It is interesting to note that these regulations were only implemented in individual German states, while the remaining lion's share of cakes contaminated with pesticides could still be processed for organic production in other EU countries. There was no health hazard, but rather

a component in the feed that is not permitted in organic production.

eggs in a targeted manner, avoiding any negative effects or harm to consumers.

distributors across the EU.

14 Food Safety - Some Global Trends

ing safety.

Germany.

farmers, were affected.

Crisis situations can occur suddenly and unexpectedly, even in a carefully managed company. Internal business process problems as well as external, unforeseen difficulties might be the cause. Therefore, a preventative strategy should consider all potential measures that might equip a company to deal with such situations.

This includes general preventative measures (quality measures, self-controlling systems following the HACCP concept principles, traceability, claims and complaints, false management, and the like). Additionally, specific measures should be considered such as the development of a crisis plan and special measures for at-risk products.

Therefore, any properly managed company requires a quality management book, in which the procedural instructions regarding quality politics, as well as the principles of quality assurance, are defined. By now, also in the light of increasing pressure of retailers, systems following the International Feature Standard (IFS) have established themselves. This includes the British Retail Consortium (BRC) [18] and Global Standard for Food Safety, with similar regulations.

A vital component of a quality management system is the aforementioned HACCP concept, which is required following Art. 5 of the Regulation 852/2002 (EC) No. 852/2004 on Food Hygiene. This regulation prescribes that food business operators must develop, implement and maintain one or more procedures based on the HACCP principles.
