Elaborated at the request of the 27th Session of the Committee on Agriculture, the FAO Strategic Priorities for Food Safety within the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 were endorsed by the FAO Council in December 2022. These Strategic Priorities are articulated around four interconnected Strategic Outcomes focused on governance, scientific advice, strengthening national food control systems and fostering public–private partnerships along the food chain. They result from an iterative consultative process led by FAO with its Members and international partner organizations, including, notably WHO.

These pages address the work of FAO and its partners in ensuring food is safe. Our intention is to develop, deploy and communicate the latest science; support good governance; facilitate food safety emergency prevention and response; and keep a close watch on both future opportunities and the risks that may accompany them. Food is the essence of life. And food safety is everyone’s business.

The document contains food additive specification monographs, analytical methods, and other information prepared at the ninety-fifth meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which was held virtually from 6 to 17 June and 22 June 2022. The specification monographs provide information on the identity and purity of food additives used directly in foods or in food production. The main three objectives of these specifications are to identify the food additive that has been subjected to testing for safety, to ensure that the additives are of the quality required for use in food or in processing and to reflect and encourage good manufacturing practice. This publication and other documents produced by JECFA contain information that is useful to...

This report presented the outcome from the JEMRA meeting, which includes the: situation analysis concerning water use and reuse in the production and processing of fish and fishery products, analysis of case studies for different risk-based water use and reuse processing scenarios and species, water quality monitoring and the use of non-culture based microbiological methods, recommendations concerning the safety and quality of water used in fish production and processing, and critical research gaps and policy developments.

The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbial Risk Assessment (JEMRA) on the pre- and post-harvest control of Campylobacter spp. in poultry meat was convened to review recent data and evidence on the topic and to provide scientific advice on control measures for thermotolerant Campylobacter species C. jejuni and C. coli in the broiler production chain. This document summarizes the conclusions of the meeting on the pre- and post-harvest control of Campylobacter spp. in poultry meat and is being made available to facilitate the deliberations of the upcoming Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH). The full report will be published as part of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) Series.

The fifth World Food Safety Day will be celebrated on 7 June 2023 to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agricultural production, market access, tourism and sustainable development. This publication is a guide for all those who want to get involved.Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

In 2020, the 43rd session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission approved the new work entitled “Development of Guidelines for the Safe Use and Reuse of Water in Food Production” proposed by the 51st session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. To support this work, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) was asked to provide scientific advice regarding safe use and reuse of water in the dairy sector. JEMRA convened an online meeting from 14 June to 2 July 2021 to provide clear and practical guidance on risk-based approaches to assess and manage fit-for-purpose water sourcing, use and reuse in the dairy sector. This report describes the output of this meeting to support the decision-making when...

Sprouts have different food safety concerns from other fresh fruits and vegetables because the conditions under which sprouts are produced (time, temperature, humidity, pH and nutrients) are ideal for foodborne pathogen growth. Outbreak investigations have demonstrated that foodborne pathogens found on sprouts most likely originate from the seed, but the contamination could also be attributed to the production environment. This report covers prevention and control measures specific to the primary production and handling of seed for sprouting, the production of sprouts and hygienic practices applicable to retail and food services. Recommendations for proper record keeping and the establishment of product traceability programmes that facilitate the identification and investigation of contaminated seed and sprouts in the event of an illness outbreak or...

This Chemical and Technical Assessment summarizes data and information that was submitted to JECFA for the safety assessment of lipase enzyme preparation from Thermomyces lanuginosis and Fusarium oxysporum expressed Aspergillus oryzae (lipase enzyme preparation). This document also discusses published information relevant to the safety of the A. oryzae production organism, the production strain, details related to the manufacturing, specifications, use, and use levels of lipase enzyme preparation in food. This document uses the expression “lipase” to refer to the modified enzyme and its amino acid sequence, and the expression “lipase enzyme preparation” to refer to the product formulated for commercial use.