25/05/2010

From left to right, Ana Troncoso, Executive Director of AESAN; Roberto Sabrido, President of AESAN; Federico Mayor Zaragoza, President of Triptolemos; Ivonne Colomer and Ramón Cloter, of Triptolemos.

The President of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, Roberto Sabrido, presented the document titled “Food Safety in the European Union: Bases for confidence”, edited by the Triptolemos Foundation. Co-presenting the document with Sabrido was the President of the Foundation, Federico Mayor Zaragoza. The event took place at the AESAN headquarters.

This document is a systemised record of all legislation pertaining to consumer protection in the area of food and nutrition. “Consumer protection from fraudulent practices has, since the first organised communities, been an objective of local authorities. Today’s global reality means that we must unify and coordinate the controls applicable in the various countries with regard to food safety, so as to ensure that consumers around the world have access to safe foods”.

Co-written by the Minister for Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jiménez, and the President of the Triptolemos Foundation, the manual’s preface states that “this guide shows the extent to which these basic principles are guaranteed at the heart of the European Union (EU). From both the conceptual and practical points of view, the dissemination of European Administrations’ directives and regulations is one of the objectives shared by the Triptolemos Foundation and AESAN, so as to offer a well-structured and attractive record to opinion shapers and other interested citizens”. During his speech, Roberto Sabrido reminded his audience of the Spanish Government’s priorities during the European Presidency with regard to food safety and nutrition. “During this semester of Presidency, the Spanish Government’s priorities are mainly centred on pushing ahead with future regulations of the European Parliament and the Council for Novel Foods”, the AESAN President said.

“With regard to consumer information – an issue which was dealt with in the presentation of this publication – it is a key issue”, Sabrido continued. “Work has started on a Parliament and Council regulation on nutritional information provided to the consumer”.

“It is very important that the consumer is aware of health authorities’ efforts to guarantee the best possible measures for ensuring food safety, but we should also point out that there is no such thing as zero risk”, the AESAN President explained. He finished with a message to consumers: “it is therefore important that, with every passing day, the Spanish public continues to inform itself with regard to food safety, and I am convinced, as I said at the beginning, that publications such as the one we are presenting today will make a substantial contribution to this knowledge”.

Food Safety in the European Union. Bases for Confidence