Food defence system in food industry: perspective of the EU countries

Nowadays, incidents related to intentional contamination of food products are a huge problem in the whole food supply chain. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness of food defence at every level of the food chain, from farm to fork, from government and academic institutions to retail chains, the media and consumers. The principles of food defence can be implemented at every level of the food chain. Food defence contributes to the mitigation of potential risks in intentional contamination and food fraud, which can have a harmful effect on humans and public health, business, economy, etc. The requirement for the implementation of food defence comes from retail chains. They require food companies to be certified according to the standards of the food safety system such as those supported by the Global Food Safety Initiative. Although food defence is an inevitable step in enhancing and strengthening the whole food safety system, on a global scale, an insufficient number of countries have incorporated food defence principles into their legal frameworks. The intention of this review article is to increase awareness of food defence in food industry.