Food safety regulations are not effective if they aren’t based on state-of-the-art science. Half a century of authoritative research has shown that science-based regulations are key to achieving real-world food safety protections for consumers around the globe. However, throughout the world, food safety regulations, if based on science at all, often are originated from decades-old data and methods, many of which are not relevant to human exposure or to mitigating actual risks from unsafe food.
It’s a global problem that can be solved. The problems presented by food safety regulations underpinned by inadequate science are not limited to developing countries, a common misperception. A troubling number of developed countries have instituted food safety regulations that also use outdated or inaccurate data as their evidence base. The Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI), the only impartial, independent and international organisation working to harmonise science-based food safety regulations, is dedicated to bringing together scientists, policymakers, regulators and industry subject matter experts at this new forum to advance the use of modern, validated scientific solutions as the basis for updating food safety regulations around the world.
A platform for change. The 2nd GHI World Congress on Global Food Safety and Security is designed to support communication and collaboration that promote new opportunities to improve and ensure that food safety regulations are based on the best available science. The focus of this inaugural congress is food safety and quality assessment via updated and validated assays, including how and when to implement the most suitable chemical, microbiological, genetic toxicological and genomic assays from farm to fork, and how to transfer these technologies to assess food safety accurately.
