Food Safety Controls and Legislation

What Food Safety Controls and Legislation covers

Food Safety Controls and Legislation is examined in Unit A2 1 Option B, Food Safety and Quality — one of two options. It covers EFSA and food risk assessment, general food hygiene under Regulation 852/2004 and regulation 853/2004 and official controls.

The 3 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• EFSA and food risk assessmentEFSA's founding and role, risk analysis and the four steps of risk assessment, tolerable and acceptable daily intakes, margins of exposure, the precautionary principle and EFSA after Brexit.Open →
• General food hygiene under Regulation 852/2004The Food Hygiene Package, food business operators' responsibility, HACCP under Article 5, registration, primary production, premises, training, the cold chain and guides to good practice.Open →
• Regulation 853/2004 and official controlsHygiene rules for food of animal origin, approval and identification marks, raw milk and shellfish, Regulation 854/2004 and its replacement by 2017/625, and meat inspection.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Food Safety Controls and Legislation further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Hazard vs Risk

  Hazard: anything with the potential to cause harm, such as a toxin or pathogen. Risk: the likelihood of harm occurring at real levels of exposure.

• Risk assessment vs Risk management

  Risk assessment: the scientific evaluation of the likelihood and severity of harm. Risk management: the policy decisions on how to control a danger, taken by lawmakers.

• Acceptable daily intake vs Tolerable daily intake

  Acceptable daily intake: a lifetime safe amount for substances added on purpose, such as additives. Tolerable daily intake: a lifetime safe amount for unwanted contaminants such as BPA.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   When and why was the European Food Safety Authority set up?

   Model answer

   EFSA was set up in 2002 under the General Food Law, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. Food scares such as BSE and dioxins in feed had damaged trust in European food safety.

2. 2

   Where is EFSA based, and what is its main role?

   Model answer

   EFSA is based in Parma, Italy. EFSA provides independent scientific advice on risks linked to the food chain.

3. 3

   Why is EFSA kept separate from the bodies that make food law?

   Model answer

   The separation keeps risk assessment independent of political and commercial pressure. EFSA advises, while the European Commission, Parliament and member states decide.

4. 4

   What are the three parts of risk analysis?

   Model answer

   Risk analysis consists of risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. EFSA carries out risk assessment, and the EU institutions manage the risk.

5. 5

   What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

   Model answer

   A hazard is anything with the potential to cause harm, such as a toxin. Risk is the likelihood that the hazard causes harm at the exposure people actually face.

6. 6

   Name the four steps of a scientific risk assessment.

   Model answer

   The first two steps are hazard identification and hazard characterisation. The last two are exposure assessment and risk characterisation.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Food Safety Controls and Legislation revision questions

What does Food Safety Controls and Legislation cover in CCEA A-Level Nutrition and Food Science?

3 subtopics: efsa and food risk assessment, general food hygiene under regulation 852/2004 and regulation 853/2004 and official controls. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Food Safety Controls and Legislation organised?

By the CCEA 3310 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.