The new Food Safety Authority of Ireland is not going to subject food producers, including farmers and industry, to strong-arm tactics, backed by the extensive powers it may have at its disposal, its chief executive, Dr Patrick Wall, has said.
It would not have a large army of food safety inspectors at its disposal, and deploying legislation alone would not ensure the controls and checks required in the best interests of consumers. It would need food industries, supermarkets and suppliers to be involved in improving the Irish food safety regime, he said.
Speaking in UCD where he gave the inaugural lecture to mark the opening of its new Centre for Food Safety, Dr Wall added that farmers needed to be convinced that they were food producers. BSE had taught British farmers about market demands.
Self-regulation would play a big role. The food sector needed to eliminate antibiotic abuse, notably the use of quinolones. If not, a ban might be necessary, he added. On the human equivalent of BSE, new variant CJD, he said the epidemiology of the disease in Ireland and small number of cases here meant the threat was different from that in Britain, despite "a few own-goals against ourselves".
Dr Wall accepted that food was a lot safer than 50 years ago, but BSE had dramatically changed the food safety agenda. Equally, lifestyles and global trade patterns meant that once a problem arose it could have serious implications.
The new centre has been established to co-ordinate food safety expertise within the faculties of medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, science and engineering.
"It will be a national resource and interact with the community, government and industry with a multidisciplinary approach in order to contribute to the understanding of food safety issues," said Prof Dan Collins, chairman of its management committee.
