27/09/2018

Health monitoring platform for the food supply chain

Created in July 2018, the health monitoring platform for the food supply chain (SCA) contributes to the development of an integrated food safety system, including all food contaminants, involving all food supply chain stakeholders, and dedicated to consumer safety. This platform is the final link in the chain for strengthening monitoring in the areas of animal health, plant health and food safety. ANSES is fully committed to this collaborative effort which will contribute to preventing risks and protecting the health of the entire population.

 

Concerted action for consumer safety

The SCA platform contributes to the development of more integrated monitoring in which all professional stakeholders are involved at each stage of the food supply chain: production, transformation, distribution, and consumption. The platform aims to create a space for multidisciplinary cooperation in the pooling of resources and the optimisation of food safety monitoring activities. So the platform should promote improvements in the collection and use of the data gleaned from monitoring plans, control plans, and also from self-inspections conducted by manufacturers themselves.

ANSES is one of the 14 members who signed the framework agreement for the creation of the SCA platform, along with the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and the Economy; Santé publique France and INRA; the technical institutes ACTA and ACTIA; the professional organisations ANIA, CGAD, Coop de France, FCD and Oqualim; and the ADILVA analytical laboratories.

 

Salmonella and Campylobacter: core priorities for the SCA platform

All contaminants that can be found in foodstuffs and cause diseases or adverse effects in humans – whether chemical, physical or biological; animal or plant-based – will be covered by the SCA  platform.  This major work programme aims to pursue activities on Salmonella and Campylobacter, the two main causes of foodborne bacterial disease in France. For example, coordination efforts for Salmonella monitoring in raw cow’s milk cheeses and on pig carcasses in slaughterhouses, will continue. 

The platform’s priorities will also involve ramping up investigations on chemical contaminants, for which available monitoring data is currently insufficient. The implementation of a “multiple exposure” approach is one of the main prospects for the platform in the long term.

 

Strengthening epidemiological surveillance for the prevention and control of health hazards 

The SCA platform is the final link in the chain for reinforcing health monitoring, subsequent to the launch of the new epidemiological surveillance platform for plant health and the consolidation of the ESA platform for animal health Their goal is to increase the efficiency of surveillance plans whose performance is key to the rapid detection of emerging risks and the anticipation of health crises.

 

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