Food safety, animal health and welfare

"Food safety measures play a critical role in ensuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain - from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption. Multiple actors are involved in this process, such as farmers, producers, retailers or caterers. Unsafe food is a threat to human health and economies, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups and people. Because of the importance of food safety, the European Union has adopted legislation to assure a high level of protection against unsafe food.

Animal health and welfare on the other hand refers to the health status and well-being of animals. This relates to the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, of animals used for scientific purposes, of animals during transport and of animals at the time of killing. Animal health can be closely linked to food safety with regards to the prevention and control of animal diseases, which are transmissible to animals or to humans. To achieve these goals, legislation has been adopted on both EU and national level."