The Hungarian Food Safety Office (HFSO) operated as the Hungarian partner institution of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from 2003 to 2012 in conformity with the EU requirements. One of its priority was to assess the health risks derived from

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

and indirectly from feed, to liaise with international and Hungarian authorities, and to communicate with the public on food safety issues. From 2012, these tasks are performed by the

National Food Chain Safety Office National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih/NFCSO) is the integrated food safety authority of Hungary, established on 15 March 2012. History The roots of NFCSO are dated back to the first officially organized animal health service founded by the An ...

, which was established by the integration of the Central Agricultural Office and HFSO.

Scientific risk assessment

One of the major responsibilities of HFSO was the scientific risk assessment relating to

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

, taking into account up-to-date scientific findings of recognised international institutions. The scientific risk assessment is based on identifying potential hazards, defining their characteristics, assessing their incidence and frequency and describing the risk. HFSO is responsible for assessing risks relating to concrete events, furthermore by analysing the data of annual official inspections concerning various

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

, technological,

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

contaminants Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Wi ...

pesticide residue Pesticide residue refers to the pesticides that may remain on or in food after they are applied to food crops. The maximum allowable levels of these residues in foods are often stipulated by regulatory bodies in many countries. Regulations such as ...

s and natural

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

substance Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug substance ** Substance abuse, drug-related healthcare and social policy diagnosis ...

s in raw and processed food. Based on the risk assessment, it forwards a proposal concerning the priority of

inspection An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. ...

s in the forthcoming period and participates in international risk assessment projects relating to individual chemical and microbiological contaminants.

National and international relations

Fostering national and international relations was another important responsibility of HFSO. Before the establishment of the

, this institution had been the Hungarian partner organization of the European Food Safety Authority. In addition, HFSO was the designated contact point in the EU

Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is a system for reporting food safety issues within the European Union established by Regulation (EC) 178/2002 of 28 January 2002, which entered into force on 21 February 2002.EU MonitorRegulation 200 ...

(RASFF), the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) Food Safety Emergency Network (INFOSAN Emergency) and FAO/WHO

Codex Alimentarius The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food production ...

The role of communication

Food is a product that the vast majority comes into direct contact with day-by-day as a

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. T ...

, food maker, and

customer In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...

. The third core function of HFSO was to fill the gap, in providing credible, up-to-date information for both experts and the general public concerning food safety, which also reflects the latest scientific achievements. HFSO aimed to raise consumer awareness among the general public, which will enable consumers to reject products and services that are dubious from a food hygiene and food safety point of view, and to become aware of and abide by fundamental principles.

Regular publications

*HFSO Newsletters (published every two weeks; HU-EN bilingual publication) *''Food Safety Journal'' (published quarterly; table of contents in English language)''Food Safety Journal''

Staff

HFSO worked with a small staff (18 people) under the supervision of the Ministry of Rural Development. All members of HFSO were

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

s. Its general director was Mária Szeitzné Szabó.

Notes and references

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.mebih.hu/ Food safety organizations Medical and health organisations based in Hungary Regulation in Hungary