Food Safety Report: Global Concerns, Tampering, and Bioterrorism

This report examines the critical topic of food safety, addressing contemporary challenges and concerns within the global food supply chain. It explores the vulnerabilities of food supply chains, which are often long, international, and interconnected, leading to potential risks. The report delves into three key areas: food tampering, which is the intentional adulteration of food; bioterrorism, involving the deliberate use of microbes to cause harm; and diverse food safety standards implemented worldwide. It highlights the importance of understanding these issues to prevent foodborne illnesses and ensure food security. The report references regulations such as the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the standards set by agencies like Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the European Food Safety Authority. It concludes by emphasizing the need for strict measures, compliance with regulations, and the establishment of global food standards to mitigate risks associated with tampering and bioterrorism, ultimately safeguarding public health and food security.

Running head: FOOD SAFETY 1
Food Safety
Students Name
Institution Affiliation

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Introduction
Food safety is a major emerging issue in the food supply chain, attracting a lot of attention from
different government, research and regulatory bodies across the globe. The food supply chain
vulnerabilities that lead to food safety risks imposed on food are mainly attributed to long,
international and highly interconnected supply chains. The food and drink products are usually a
target of adulteration, both intentional and unintentional while supply chains deal with perishable
foods and food products that can be harmful to the end-users if they are not well managed. The
present paper will discuss current concerns including tampering, bioterrorism, and diverse food
safety standards linked to food safety around the world.
Food Tampering
Tampering of the food is the deliberate adulteration of food to cause harm to the end-users or the
manufacturing companies. Food tampering can affect food in various ways including, the
product, wrapping, and label (Manning & Soon, 2016). Food tampering is a major issue and
often a punishable offence under different criminal codes in different nations around the world.
Bioterrorism
This is the intentional release of bacteria, viruses, and microbes to cause infection or death to
consumers. The microbes used in bioterrorism occur naturally; however, they can be made more
detrimental by increasing their capacity to cause illnesses, spread and resist any treatment (Peter,
2015). Food Bioterrorism has been a common occurrence in the United States prompting the
increased preparedness requirements to incase of foodborne bioterrorism including robust
surveillance, speedy investigation of outbreaks,
Food Safety Standards

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Different nations around the world administer their food standards and law. The main challenge
is for businesses importing and exporting foods in different countries. Regulations administered
on food are developed on a comprehensive scientific principle to protect consumers from
foodborne diseases and death (Keiichiro, Otsuki & Wilson, 2015). Food standard concerns are
mainly in production, preparation, distribution, and storage. In the US Food Safety,
Modernization Act (FSMA) for the FDA is used to address food safety issues. The Act offers
powers to the FDA to control the private food sectors concerning food safety issues. Food
standards in New Zealand and Australia, as directed by the Food Standards Australia and New
Zealand is the main agency dealing with food safety concerns that is compatible with the US
Food and Drug Administration (Cheli, Battaglia, Gallo & Dell'Orto, 2014). In Europe, the
European Food Safety Authority is the agency mandated to offer regulations on foods (Keiichiro
et al., 2015).
Food security is a global problem that requires tight measures to prevent cases of tampering,
bioterrorism of food and the development of global food standards which can help alleviate
potential risks (Cheli et al., 2014). Globalization with the limited association in establishing
common standards to enhance food security, Limited compliance and lack of third-party
regulatory body has led to increased risks brought about by food (Cheli et al., 2014).
Bioterrorism has been used as a weapon to cause damage that can lead to death. Due to
uncontrolled production and packaging food, tampering is a common occurrence that has led to
contaminations across the globe (Keiichiro et al., 2015). Compliance with local national and
international regulations for best practices in the food industry is key to preventing issues that
compromise food safety.
Conclusion

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The present paper has discussed tampering, bioterrorism, and diverse food safety standards
which are modern problems related to food safety around the world. The paper has identified
food safety barriers that are attributed to food safety concerns across the globe. Globalization,
lack of compliance with regulatory bodies and the absence of a third-party regulatory body have
been identified as barriers that led to food security challenges.

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References
Cheli, F., Battaglia, D., Gallo, R., & Dell'Orto, V. (2014). EU legislation on cereal safety: An
update with a focus on mycotoxins. Food Control, 37, 315-325. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0956713513005161
Keiichiro, H., Otsuki, T., & Wilson, J. S. (2015). Food safety standards and international trade:
the impact on developing countries’ export performance. In Food safety, market
organization, trade and development (pp. 151-166). Springer, Cham. Retrieved from
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-15227-1_8
Manning, L., & Soon, J. M. (2016). Food safety, food fraud, and food defence: fast evolving
literature. Journal of food science, 81(4), R823-R834. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1750-3841.13256
Peter, C. (2015). Food Terrorism: Do We Care?. International Journal of Safety and Security in
Tourism and Hospitality, 1(10), 1. Retrieved from
https://www.palermo.edu/Archivos_content/2015/economicas/journal-tourism/
edicion10/01_Food_terrorism-Do_we_care.pdf