Food Safety in the European Union: A Comparative Assessment Based on RASFF Notifications, Pesticide Residues, and...

Area of Science:

• Food safety science
• Comparative policy analysis
• Regulatory science

Background:

• Food safety in the European Union (EU) is complex, influenced by national differences despite harmonized regulations.
• Variability in food safety performance exists among EU member states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comparative evaluation of food safety performance across EU member states.
• To identify key indicators and predictors of food safety.
• To inform targeted policy interventions for enhancing EU food safety.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications.
• Analyzed pesticide maximum-residue-limit (MRL) violation rates.
• Assessed per capita food loss data.
• Employed Fuzzy TOPSIS, K-means clustering, and sensitivity tests for comprehensive appraisal.

Main Results:

• Significant disparities in food safety performance were observed among EU member states in 2022.
• Bulgaria reported the highest RASFF notifications (212) and pesticide MRL non-compliance (1.5%), while Estonia and Lithuania had the lowest.
• A strong positive correlation (r=0.72) was found between pesticide MRL violations and food safety warnings, indicating pesticide control's importance.
• Food loss varied widely (76-142 kg/capita/year) but did not significantly impact food safety measures.

Conclusions:

• Pesticide regulation is a more critical predictor of food safety than food loss.
• Targeted policy is required, focusing on stricter enforcement in lower-income countries and best practice sharing.
• The study's composite approach offers valuable insights for EU food safety policy discourse.