Scanlan Francis P
Nestlé Research Center, Quality and Safety Department, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nestle Nutr Workshop Ser Pediatr Program. 2007;60:65-78. doi: 10.1159/000106361.
Contaminants are a vast subject area of food safety and quality. They are generally divided into chemical, microbiological and physical classes and are present in our food chain from raw materials to finished products. They are the subject of international and national legislation that has widened to cover more and more contaminant classes and food categories. In addition, consumers have become increasingly aware of and alarmed by their risks, whether rightly or not. What is the food industry doing to ensure the safety and quality of the products we feed our children? This is a valid question which this article attempts to address from an industrial viewpoint. Chemical food safety is considered a complex field where the risk perception of consumers is often the highest. The effects of chronic or acute exposure to chemical carcinogens may cause disease conditions long after exposure that can be permanently debilitating or even fatal. It is also a moving target, as knowledge about the toxicity and occurrence data of new chemical contaminants continues to be generated. Their identification, prevention and management are challenges to the food industry as a whole. A reminder of the known chemical hazards in the food chain will be presented with an emphasis on the use of early warning to identify potential new contaminants. Early warning is also a means of prevention, anticipating food safety concerns before they become issues to manage. Current best management practices including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points relating to the supply chain of baby foods and infant formulae will be developed. Finally, key lessons from a case study on recent contamination issues in baby food products will be presented.
污染物是食品安全与质量领域中一个庞大的主题。它们通常分为化学、微生物和物理类别，在我们的食品链中从原材料到成品都有存在。它们是国际和国家立法的主题，这些立法范围不断扩大，涵盖越来越多的污染物类别和食品种类。此外，消费者越来越意识到它们的风险并对此感到担忧，无论这种担忧是否合理。食品行业正在采取什么措施来确保我们给孩子食用的产品的安全与质量？这是一个合理的问题，本文试图从行业角度来探讨。化学食品安全被认为是一个复杂的领域，消费者对其风险的认知往往是最高的。长期或急性接触化学致癌物的影响可能在接触很久之后才引发疾病状况，这些疾病可能会导致永久性衰弱甚至致命。这也是一个不断变化的目标，因为关于新化学污染物的毒性和存在数据的知识仍在不断产生。对它们的识别、预防和管理对整个食品行业来说都是挑战。本文将介绍食品链中已知的化学危害，并重点强调利用预警来识别潜在的新污染物。预警也是一种预防手段，在食品安全问题成为需要管理的问题之前就预见到这些问题。将阐述包括与婴儿食品和婴儿配方奶粉供应链相关的危害分析与关键控制点在内的当前最佳管理实践。最后，将介绍一个关于近期婴儿食品产品污染问题案例研究的关键经验教训。
