Food safety is a matter of education, education, education. So says Dr Patrick Wall, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority and the recently appointed adjunct professor of food safety at UCD.

The discovery of BSE in cattle has "rewritten the script as far as food safety is concerned", he says. "The story of cows eating dead cows and a government cover-up in Britain - a writer couldn't get a better sciencefiction plot. It has damaged consumer confidence in scientists, farming and the food industry. Trust is gone and you can't blame people."

Salmonella and E Coli have also become headline grabbers in recent times. All the signs are that for the future, food safety will continue to be a major issue. "Globally, it's getting worse," Wall notes. "The bugs have changed. They have become more virulent and new bugs are emerging. E Coli 157, for example, doesn't just cause diarrhoea, it can cause liver failure and death." The Food Safety Authority was set up in 1998 as a result of the food scares. Ireland was the first EU state to offer such a service, Wall notes. "We were the first because we're a food exporting nation and industry was in favour of it." Four other EU countries have since set up similar authorities, and at EU level the European Food Agency has been established.

Ireland has good quality food, but a weak monitoring system, he says. People are willing to pay extra for safe, high-quality food products: "We have to be able to prove that we are safe and show that we are better than last year." A major concern for Wall is the widespread lack of public awareness about hygiene, especially as people are spending less time cooking and preparing food. In Britain, Wall notes, the average evening meal takes about 10 minutes to prepare - because people are moving into prepared foods.

"Nowadays there's no food item that is out of season. In the past, people bought food that was produced in a 30-mile radius. Food is mass produced and widely distributed - it's a global business. About 54 per cent of the money spent on food in the US is spent eating out or on prepared food. The figure in Ireland is 22 per cent and it's the biggest growth area. Today, even the tiniest shop sells sandwiches. Convenience foods now make up 10 per cent of garage forecourt sales." And the number of outside catering companies is mushrooming. A significant problem for the sector - and ultimately for the consumer - is that because of high staff turnover rates, staff training, or the lack of it, is a major issue. It's vital that these companies ensure that, at the very least, they have a supervisor trained in food hygiene, Wall warns.

CERT has developed a training programme for chefs. "There's no point in having pristine kitchens if the food is delivered in unrefrigerated trucks. Chefs must know where the food comes from and how it should be handled." Industry, too, has developed excellent food safety initiatives, but it needs to do more. The Food Safety Authority was set up to protect consumers, but the industry has to protect itself. "You can't police or prosecute a culture of food safety," he says. "The responsibility for food safety ultimately rests with the industry itself. There are Irish companies which are world beaters and are achieving standards way in excess of legal standards. They should be the benchmark. There are also black sheep, and they should be weeded out and prosecuted. "The outbreak of salmonella in Navan has affected ham consumption in the entire country. People lose confidence in the product. You can't keep food scares a secret. The industry has an obligation to get it right."

As a food exporting country, we have to prove we produce safe food, he says. "We need to get access to research funding and target research at public health issues. "Researchers often focus on their own hobby horses, but it's important that we address consumer concerns about food safety and the causes of illness. Perceived fears are real fears. Scientists need to come out and talk to the public about what they're doing. We have wall-to-wall radio talk shows but where do people get public health advice? We need more scientists talking to the public, telling them what's going on and putting the risks in context. "At the moment, the more extreme your views, the more airtime you'll get."

Good research programmes abound, however. "The Department of Agriculture has funded research in UCD and UCC, we have a strong nutrition component in TCD, while NUI Galway has strengths in microbiology, biotechnology and marine biology. Teagasc supports wonderful research with world-class scientists." Meanwhile, the Food Safety Authority's scientific advisory committee has 87 scientists working for it. "It's a phenomenal resource." Recent initiatives by the Food Safety Authority include the "Sam and Ella" pilot radio campaign and a food-safety pack for primary schools, due in schools next month; it also features Sam and Ella, and includes stickers, a wall chart, a video and pictures to colour. Eventually, it is hoped to distribute the packs to schools in Northern Ireland, too, via the Food Safety Promotion Board - the all-Ireland food safety agency set up under the Belfast Agreement. As adjunct professor of food safety, Wall teaches on a number of UCD courses. However, the college is about to advertise for a full-time professor of food safety. Although the professorship will be the first of its kind in the State, UCC has a range of professors whose remits include a food-safety component.

There are a number of third-level areas in which food safety education has a role - veterinary, agriculture and medicine, for example. Students, though, often fail to see the relevance of food safety. "Vet students all want to be James Herriots. They don't see food safety as an issue," explains Wall. "They don't see themselves working in the food business or in abattoirs. "But a vet working in a large animal practice dealing with cattle, sheep an pigs - he's working with food animals, so there's definitely a food safety issue there. Similarly, medical students want to be hospital consultants or GPs and don't make the connection between food safety and public health. Food safety has a huge role to play in preventative medicine."

Wall notes the irony of a Department of Health which is devoted to sickness. "Preventative medicine is the poor relation," he says, and this raises important issues. "If we were to spend £2 billion on improving the health of the nation - should we spend it on scanners or improving the diet and providing free leisure centres for everyone?" If we want to make food safer, Wall argues, we will have to take a whole-food approach - "from farm to fork, from mill to molar".