Impact of globalisation on food safety of fresh produce

Fresh produce are an important part of a healthy diet. They provide dietary source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. There is a high consumption of fresh, fresh-cut or ready-to-eat (minimally processed) produce including raw produce such as leafy (consumer sized packaged) vegetables (e.g. lettuce, spinach, cabbage, chicory, endive and radicchio), tomatoes, peppers, fresh herbs (e.g. cilantro, basil, coriander, parsley), sprouted seeds, soft red fruit (e.g. raspberries, strawberries), melons and exotic fruit mixes. Also there is trend towards sustainable, fresh(like) healthy convenience foods (e.g. smoothies) and organic produce and culinary promotion of “healthy fast-food”. At present Europe is the largest importer and exporter of food products in the world, the safety of which is presumed EU food policy is developed to support and manage the safety and the consumer’s confidence in it. For example, the EU General Food Law (Anonymous, 2002) states, that “a high level of protection of human life and health should be assured in the pursuit of Community policies”. However, food borne outbreaks appear to be on the increase again, with a shift from traditional problems with foods from animal origin to fresh foods such as produce (Anonymous, 2008; EFSA, 2010). One consequence of trade liberalisation and the resulting globalisation is the progressive shift away from the marketing of bulk, undifferentiated products towards specific product farming and marketing. This is designed to service emerging niche markets (OECD 1998, Meyer, 2007). These trends open up numerous possibilities for innovative fresh produce, as it has been already shown by market experts on consumer trends. In fact, new vegetable products are daily incorporated in healthy diets proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). These new emerging trends also include different preparation habits, such as woken, molecular cooking and freeze drying, and addition of fresh herbs (e.g. Van der Linden et al, 2008)