| 2003 |
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YEAR BOOK |
safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board
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An important link in the food safety chain
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With its headquarters in Little Island, Cork, and working throughout the island of Ireland, safefood has a range of legislative functions, including developing promotional and awareness food safety campaigns, identifying and commissioning scientific research, developing and monitoring food alert communications protocols, establishing all-island foodborne disease surveillance systems, promoting communication and links between laboratories, and the development of cost effective facilities for specialised laboratory testing. The Board also has a remit to conduct risk assessments on the safety of the food supply.
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� Developing a strategy for co-operation and links between laboratories
� Developing a centralised reporting system � Facilitating the sharing of scientific methodologies between laboratories � Setting priorities for each laboratory � Developing a scientific network. |
There are many laboratories involved in food safety monitoring and all play an integral role in providing high quality scientific information on food safety issues. However, this information is transferred into a variety of systems that are fragmented and uncoordinated. This limits the collation, analysis and dissemination of the scientific information required to solve food safety problems and protect consumer health on the island of Ireland. Consequently, communication and liaison between key personnel in food safety laboratories on the island is crucial.
safefood's Lablink Unit is putting in place a number of support arrangements that will encourage and initiate inter-laboratory co-operation. Some of the new initiatives include:
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��The publication of the first edition of the safefood all-island Directory of Food Safety Laboratory Services that gives contact and operational details of over 60 official regulatory, State Agency and approved private laboratories.
��safefood has established a number of co-operative programmes and initiatives. Laboratory Staff Training and Mobility Programmes allow laboratory personnel to participate in exchange visits or training at other food safety laboratories, research establishments and centres of excellence. The purpose of these programmes is to identify priorities and test gaps in the food control system, develop inter-laboratory relationships, and generally promote scientific co-operation and laboratory linkages between food control laboratories. ��The Lablink Unit hosts various workshops and seminars for laboratory staff and provides training courses in specialised topics. The collation of other IT and web-based information resources for laboratory staff is also a priority. ��safefood is currently developing options for the delivery of enteric reference services for foodborne pathogens for the island of Ireland. |
In particular, safefood endeavours to facilitate and assist publicly funded laboratories achieve accreditation, as it promotes consistency in work and enhances a laboratory's operations and reputation. All health food control laboratories - i.e. the public analysts and official food microbiology laboratories - have committed significant resources and effort into attaining National Accreditation Board accreditation, with a resulting enhanced confidence in laboratory results on which food safety decisions can be made. This ensures that accredited laboratories are operating to the highest prescribed level of technical competency that meets EU requirements. The Irish food industry and enforcement agencies now require laboratory accreditation when choosing a laboratory for testing.
These laboratory support measures put in place by safefood aim to enhance the quality of Irish food safety operations and benefit Irish laboratories enormously. The Lablink Unit is a key component in achieving safefood's goal of a safe and trustworthy food supply for Irish people.
Contact: Dr Gary A. Kearney, Lablink Unit, safefood,
the Food Safety Promotion Board; Tel: +353-21 230 4100;
E-mail: [email protected]