Control programmes
This section includes the official food safety control programmes for food establishments and foods produced or sold in the domestic market, grouped into four blocks in order to meet the PNCOCA 2016–2020 strategic objectives (2.1 to 2.4).
Programme content
These programmes describe official controls in the different phases and sectors of the food chain, covering all areas specified in the applicable regulations.
The control programmes encompass:
- official controls carried out at food establishments to check compliance with regulations for food business operators;
- official controls carried out on food products made available to consumers to check that the information supplied complies with legislation;
- controls carried out on food products in order to reduce the presence of biological or chemical hazards in concentrations that may constitute a risk.
Programme structure
All the programmes have a similar structure and there are general requirements that are applicable to all control programmes. It is advisable to read these requirements prior to consulting the control programmes, in order to easier understand them.
Thematic blocks
The official controls carried out in food establishments, which usually consist in inspection visits and audits, are very different from the controls carried out on food products, which are usually done through sampling with or without laboratory analysis. For this reason, the control programmes are split into four clearly differentiated blocks.
Block I: Control programmes for food establishments
- Programme 1. General control of food establishments
- Programme 2. Control of food establishment self-inspections
- Programme 3. Control of animal welfare in slaughterhouses
- Programme 4. Control of slaughterhouses and establishments for the manipulation of wild game animals and fighting bull processing rooms
Block II: Food information and composition control programmes
- Programme 5. Control of food information and FCMs delivered to the end consumer
- Programme 6. Control of technological processing aids
- Programme 7. Control of irradiated foods
- Programme 8. Control of allergens and substances present in foods that cause intolerance
- Programme 9. Control of biotechnological foods (GMO)
- Programme 10. Control of food supplements
Block III: Biological and chemical risk control programmes
- Programme 11. Control of microbiological criteria in food safety
- Programme 12. Control of Anisakis
- Programme 13. Control of mycotoxins and plant toxins in foods
- Programme 14. Control of marine biotoxins in food products
- Programme 15. Control of abiotic contaminants in foods
- Programme 16. Control of food contact materials
- Programme 17. Control of pesticide residues in foods
- Programme 18. Control of specific substances and their residues in products of animal origin