Good news is too rare to pass on. This time it comes from the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC), which is publishing its annual report today, including all inspection results for 2023.
Over the past year, the agency will have carried out a total of 106,757 inspection missions (for 109,666 missions in 2022) throughout the food chain, from producer to consumer (farms, manufacturers, slaughterhouses, stores, HoReCa, etc.). In concrete terms, more than 56,000 companies active throughout the food chain have thus received a visit from an inspector who has carried out one or more inspections. This results in a high compliance rate, with 84.8% of inspections yielding a positive result in 2023 (slightly below the 85.3% recorded in 2022).
What happens in the event of an unfavourable report? The AFSCA can take various measures, ranging from a warning (15,728) to a fine (10,044) and even the seizure of the goods, which was the case for 2,174 of them. In extreme cases, i.e. when the health of the consumer is compromised, the AFSCA can also impose a temporary closure of the company: this happened 399 times in 2023.
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Allergens and hygiene: issues of concern
In the distribution sector alone (HoReCa, supermarkets, bakeries, butchers, fishmongers and community kitchens), the agency visited 21,628 companies: 69.3% of the inspection missions resulted in a favourable result. The main points that remain worrying are the ability to provide consumers with correct information on allergens and hand hygiene. The Afsca thus points out the lack of sufficient sinks, touchless taps, washing liquids and hygienic drying methods.
More reassuring, however, are the results obtained following the sampling of food products on our market. Indeed, of the 64,648 samples analyzed in the laboratory, 98% were found to be compliant.A figure that demonstrates a high level of food security in our country.“, the Afsca is pleased, even though 254 products were recalled that year. For what reasons? More than 8 out of 10 product recalls were due to a chemical or microbiological risk. In addition, 85 warnings were also issued, mainly due to the absence of allergen indications on the label.
Also reassuring is the figure for checks carried out at Belgian borders, whether in ports or airports: of the 131,073 shipments checked (127,402 in 2022), more than 97% of them arrived on the European market.
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Consumer complaints
As for the consumer helpline, it handled 4,865 complaints (4,998 in 2022).These are important signals for the Agency because almost 6 out of 10 consumer complaints have given rise to action on the ground.”underlines the agency which answered nearly 4,000 questions from consumers.
The food security barometer is a scientific instrument which indicates each year the evolution of the general state of food security in Belgium.Between 2022 and 2023, the food security barometer saw an increase of 2.2%, comments the Afsca. The main reason is a decrease in the number of people affected by possible food poisoning, a decrease in the number of cases of salmonellosis and fewer findings of Campylobacter (a bacteria) in carcasses and cut meat.”
In relation to the introduction in January 2023 of European standards for PFAS in many food products, the Afsca took 370 samples of meat, milk, eggs, liver, fish and crustaceans.Some of these samples were taken randomly from the food chain, but samples were also taken from farms located in risk areas.details the Afsca. Only 4 samples did not meet the new standards”.
Pour Herman Diricks, Managing Director of Afsca, ““The year 2023 passed without any major incident despite the impact of global challenges related to the war in Ukraine, the new standards on PFAS and also still the effects of Brexit. We were also able to successfully complete other files such as that of pork exports to China.”
