4 The future of food safety and HACCP in a changing world
4.1 Introduction
Change is the new norm and change is all around us -in technological advances, in globalisation, in economic and environmental conditions, and in the expectations of the new generation coming into the workforce. In addition, many social changes have impacted the food industry, for example:
r Changing lifestyles -more people eating out than cooking at home, leading to an increase in food service establishments and a decrease in domestic cooking and in-home food preparation skills and knowledge.
r More women working outside the home and an increased reliance on convenience foods - producing a further decrease in food preparation skills.
r Increased mass production of foods and globalisation of the supply chain means that more people can be affected if there is a food safety failure. Such failures are exacerbated when communications are hindered by difficulties in tracing products in distribution.
r Increased travel and tourism means that people are exposed to foodborne hazards from many countries. It also drives the consumer desire for more global food choice, which is a driver for globalised food supply chains.
r Evolution of consumer eating patterns -the demand for shorter ingredients lists, and fresh refrigerated foods with shorter shelf life.
r Attempts to improve public health, for example through reduction of salt in processed foods, reduction fat products and removal of trans fats.
r Ageing populations in many countries, together with the increase in the types and numbers of foodborne pathogens, mean that a higher number of people are susceptible to foodborne illness.
Against this backdrop and with continued high numbers of foodborne illnesses from both developed and developing countries, it is clear that something has to change. We cannot continue to operate as we have been and expect a better result -if anything the situation will get worse. And yet, we are asking the same questions now as we were 10 years ago. They were the right questions then, so why has nothing changed?