To guarantee the food safety to consumers and safeguard the agrifood sector from recurring crises, the European Union, and Italy as a member country, have adopted the strategy of “safety from farm to table”.

This formula contains the spirit of regulatory intervention and control: the challenge of ensuring safe food all along the production chain, setting up an integrated control system between the various actors involved to ensure the safeguard of the requirements of food products and the welfare of animals and plants, whether produced within the EU or imported.

The general principles on which the legislation concerns are:

• integrated controls throughout the food chain;
• interventions based on the Analysis of Risk;
• primary responsibility of the industry for each product created, processed, imported, marketed or administered;
• traceability of products throughout the supply chain;
• consumer as an active part of food security.

In addition, to ensure a scientific approach to issues related to food, the European Authority for Food Safety was established (EFSA) in 2012, which, in collaboration with national authorities and in consultation with stakeholders, since then provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.

EFSA elaborates scientific and expert advice to provide a solid foundation for legislative work and to facilitate timely and effective decisions in risk management.

Especially for meat, the legislation is very detailed, both in the definition of the requirements of the production facilities and for product specifications and related control systems.

The Sustainable Meat Project