Producer responsibility : processed foods within a comprehensive legal context

Abstract

This thesis illustrates and examines the current legislation in force regulating the processing of foodstuffs at all stages of production and marketing, from raw materials, cultivation and/or rearing, to actual marketing of the end product. It comparatively analyses the development of food law through different pieces of legislation enacted through the years locally and continentally, especially within the European Union. It also examines the producers' legal responsibility vis-a-vis the product itself and the end consumer, discussing the need for a comprehensive and harmonized legal framework set to fix basic principles and obligations, extending the producer's legal responsibility to a 'farm-to-table' approach. The first chapters provide an overview of the development of a general awareness towards adequate food regulation through the ages, and show how local and European legislation tried to keep abreast of the dynamic changes within the sector. The inception of the relative standards now required for processed food to be safely and legally marketed, including such concepts as traceability, due diligence on the part of the producer and risk analysis and assessment, have all played an important part in the development of the current food law regime. Thus the discussion develops around the trends that are shaping the new direction in which food regulation is now heading and affords a detailed analysis and discussion on the present-day statutes as well as detailed analysis on their enforcement and implementation. It also focuses on the need for harmonization of the whole screening and enforcement process looking closely at the European Food Safety authority and the local Food Safety Commission, aimed at centralizing all matters relating to food regulation, standardization, monitoring and enforcement. As a direct consequence of the previous discussions, the concluding chapters tackle the present food businesses responsibility within the ambit of the new Food Safety Act with a critical eye as to enforcement, liability and redress available for the consumer.