22 - Legislation and criteria

Abstract

Publisher Summary There are few regulations that specifically apply to chilled foods. Regulations have become the favoured legislative tool in the EU, particularly on issues relating to food hygiene and safety and consumer protection. However, a key feature in the development of chilled foods, particularly in Europe, has been the industry's approach to food safety and quality, which is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) focused and founded on self regulation. Over recent years in particular, specific standards, codes and guidelines have been developed that directly relate to or impinge on the production of chilled foods. The Code of Hygienic Practice for Refrigerated Packaged Foods with Extended Shelf-Life is applicable to low-acid, high water activity, heat treated, chilled foods with a shelf-life of more than five days. It sets out HACCP-based recommendations for the processing, packaging, storage and distribution of these foods, aiming to prevent growth of pathogenic micro-organisms. CODEX Guidelines on the Application of General Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Foods provide advice to governments on a framework for the control of L. monocytogenes in RTE foods. It is of key importance to be aware that the safety of food is neither guaranteed nor controlled by microbiological testing. The factors presented in this chapter contribute to the variable microbiological population both within and between products within a batch of chilled foods. Microbiological criteria are intended to give some degree of assurance that food is safe and of suitable quality and that it will remain so to the end of its shelf-life provided it is handled appropriately.