**3. Development of national food safety system**

Provision of information for government agencies to assist in the development of national food control systems and to promote effective collaboration between all the different agencies

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

involved in the management and control of food safety has become the utmost importance. The importance of developing effective relationships and mutual support among government agencies and institutions involved in the control of food safety and other interested parties, particularly the food industry and consumer associations, will enhance the establishment of effective food safety systems that positively impact the public health.

Moreover, the availability of different food safety standards to agencies in charge of regulation should be oriented toward creating a connection between performance indicators and not only public health targets but also the economical aspects of food safety criteria, in addition to providing recommendations for continual development. This can be done via implementation and subsequent development of science-based criteria for food safety; criteria that include principals for managing the degree of risk for foodborne illnesses and becoming familiar with

Introductory Chapter: Food Safety Concepts http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79131 3

The safety of our food products must always be given top priority in all that we do through selecting the best standards for an operation and then defining, implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving the food safety system. It is very important along all the steps of this process that food professionals monitor the specific sources related to the standard of choice along with staying up-to-date on current food safety-related news and incidents.

Food Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

the elements that contribute to that risk.

Address all correspondence to: elsamragy@hotmail.com

**Author details**

Yehia El-Samragy

Since 1990s, food safety systems and code of practices have been developed substantially. These developments have been driven primarily by the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system for ensuring food safety worldwide, as well as compliance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-issued standards by different sectors of the food industry, including but not limited to the food chain. As a result, it has now become a necessity for students being prepared to start their career paths in the food industry to become educated about these safety systems, while still in their undergraduate programs.

The most important method for protecting public health is by promoting food safety that has long been recognized as a governmental responsibility in any country. It has improved through a series of statutory and regulatory requirements that responded to the fact that a significant proportion of human illnesses and deaths often have their origin in the food supply.
