AECOC Congress on Food Safety
Post: Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition
Date: 22 February 2016
Section: Food Safety
AECOSAN attended the inauguration ceremony of the 13th AECOC Congress on Food Safety.
The AECOC Congress brought together more than 250 food industry professionals with responsibilities in the areas of Quality, Food Safety and Nutrition, and professionals from various administrations, who were welcomed by José María Bonmatí, the Director General of AECOC . The slogan chosen was: Transparency, a value to create trust.
The event was inaugurated by Juan Julián García, Advisory Member of the Board of Management. In his speech, he stated that despite the fact that food had never been safer or healthier than it is today, consumers are ever more critical of its quality and safety. Uncertainties about the probability associated to risk and its social impact give rise to a conflict between limits on our knowledge and the need to act. In that sense, effective communication of information and opinion on risks associated to food is an essential and integral component in the risk analysis process.
We always keep very much in mind that we are participating in a single market, an integrated, open and competitive stage, which should favour mobility, competition and innovation, in coordination with EU policy in the sector.
And of course, we need the trust of consumers, for which it is essential always to keep them informed, with the greatest possible transparency. A well-informed consumer is a citizen with the ability to make good decisions in their purchases. The Court of Justice of the European Union has created the concept of the average consumer, not in statistical terms, but rather as the typical reaction of an ordinarily informed, reasonably attentive and perceptive consumer, taking social, cultural and linguistic factors into account.
That is why transparency is essential in all areas. Transparency is a very useful tool in communicating risks; policymakers must guarantee the participation of the public, institutions and involved or associated companies.
We must be capable of translating scientific evidence into clear, accessible and meaningful messages that meet the needs of key audiences.
AECOC is one of the largest business associations in Spain, where manufacturers and distributors work together to improve the sector, with the goal of bringing better value to the consumer.
AECOC, which was created to drive forward the introduction of barcodes in Spain, has evolved, offering industry and distribution an indispensable collaborative framework, so that they may reach the consumer as effectively as possible.
