SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science Risk Regulation in Non-Animal Food Imports - Francesco Montanari Veronika Jezsó Carlo Donati Kartoniert (TB)

This Brief aims at providing a general understanding of the rationale - scientific as well as political - behind EU policy and related risk management decisions in the area on non-animal food imports. Lately various menaces associated with imported food and feed of non-animal origin appeared in the media: imported sprout seeds contaminated with E. coli strawberries containing hepatitis A or noro viruses to name but a few are now as much discussed as the different well-known meat scandals. The authors explain the reinforced official controls at EU borders on certain imports of non-animal o rigin and the wide range of EU measures that currently foresee trade restrictions for imports presenting chemical and non-chemical 'high risks' from a public health perspective (so-called 'emergency measures'). The Brief closely examines chemical (and also non-chemical) risks associated with imports of non-animal origin and their impact on human health. The authors also consider the role risk analysis is playing to underpin risk-management decisions at EU level including the scientific output by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).