InTERnATIOnAL FOOD SAFETy
By Huub Lelieveld
What’s in the Best Interest of
the Food Industry?
Monday, April 23, 2012, was a day worth celebrating. It was the day that the Netherlands’ prime minister had to ffer the resignation of the government o the queen. This was good news, because the minority government that was formed just 18
months ago could govern only thanks to the support
of the anti-foreigners party (PVV). The two governing
parties, VVD (liberals) and CDA (Christians), had compromised to do what they traditionally would strongly
oppose, like expelling refugees, in conflict with international agreements and sometimes even national and
international laws, just to gain the support of the PVV.
Few people liked the coalition, but defended it as being
in the interest of the nation, meaning it was good for
the Dutch treasury.
There is a parallel in the food industry. It is tempting for chief executive officers (CEOs) to “compromise
in the interest of the company,” the interest being
the—usually short-term—financial results. If the compromise has to do with the quality, but does not affect
the safety, of the product, it might be defensible, but
there are cases where food safety is at stake. When
discovered, they reach the news and everybody knows.
Melamine in milk is not a unique case; other examples
are lead oxide in paprika powder, ethylene glycol in
wine and recycled transformer cooling oil in pig and
poultry feed. On the microbiological side, we have
seen spoiled meat reprocessed and put back in the
food chain, recanning of moldy applesauce and chick-
Don’t sell your soul to the devil
This is one in a series of
“P3FC” articles (People,
Planet, Prosperity and
the Food Chain), essays
and comments from
assorted authors. All
articles in the series will
address the challenges
of food production
to communicate best
practice in the industry
and encourage the
adoption of sustainable
policies. All authors
are food professionals
coming from diverse
employment sectors and
from around the globe.
The goal of P3FC is to
help create a global food
supply chain that takes
into account the well-
being and prosperity of
people and the planet.
If you are interested in
contributing an article
to the P3FC series,
please send an e-mail
to katherine.flynn@
safeconsortium.org.
ens given rotten feed, leading to outbreaks because the eggs are contaminated with Salmonella. No doubt there will
be new cases in the future; greed seems
to make some people very innovative.
While in some countries, the result may
be imprisonment for those responsible,
in other countries, the responsible CEO
may be urged to resign without serious
consequences, and there are cases without any consequences at all. Being dishonest about the safety, the origin or the
composition of a product is not acceptable, and when somebody finds out, he
or she should report it and those “
governing” the company should not only
be made to resign but should also be
taken to court. In a decent society, there
is no room for an “old boys’ network”
with the wrong intentions, helping each
other survive their wrongdoings. Making a profit is fine, but not if it involves
unacceptable compromises—the ends do
not always and automatically justify the
means. n
Huub Lelieveld is president
of the Global Harmonization
Initiative, member of the
executive committee and
a past president of EFFoST
(the European Federation
of Food Science and Technology) and founder
and past president of EHEDG (the European
Hygienic Engineering & Design Group). He is a
fellow of IAFoST (the International Academy of
Food Science and Technology), a fellow of IFT
(the Institute of Food Technologists) and has
been chair of the nonthermal processing and
international divisions of IFT. Most recently, he
initiated “People, planet, prosperity and the food
chain,” in short, P3FC, an organization of which
the sole objective is to remind the food industry
as frequently as possible that besides caring for
shareholders, they also share responsibilities for
the planet and society. He is a member of the
P3FC editorial team and is on the editorial board
of Food Safety Magazine.
