EU Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has marked World Food Safety Day on Sunday, 7 June by saying food sold in the European Union must meet EU standards, including products imported from outside the bloc.
Várhelyi said on Sunday that EU food safety rules are based on “science-based rules”, controls and cooperation between food businesses and public authorities, the European Commission reported.
He declared that “thousands of professionals across the EU” work daily to keep the system running, and that when risks are identified, unsafe products are removed from the market, sometimes before they reach supermarket shelves.
Imports and border checks
The EU is one of the world’s largest importers of food, and EU standards apply to all food and feed — the term for products used to feed animals — placed on the EU market, whether produced inside the EU or elsewhere, the European Commission said.
Import controls are used to check that those standards are met, and products that do not comply are rejected before they enter the EU and reach consumers.
“The message is clear: if a product is sold in the European Union, it must meet European standards,” Várhelyi said, according to the European Commission.
