Abstract
Food safety risk assessment in the European Union (EU) recognises consumer illness that arises from marine biotoxins as a risk associated with bivalve mollusc consumption. EU food regulations contain various general food safety obligations, which should contribute significantly to managing this risk. EU food regulations additionally impose various specific obligations on both Food Business Operators and Competent Authorities in order to manage the marine biotoxin food safety risk in the bivalve mollusc food-chain. These have a particular focus on the pre-harvest component of the food-chain. A central component of these specific systems is the requirement for ongoing monitoring of phytoplankton and biotoxin concentrations in water and molluscs, respectively. This monitoring explicitly brings a potential outcome of closing production areas delineated by classification to prohibit the harvest of bivalve molluscs as food from those areas when acceptable biotoxin concentrations are exceeded. This review considers the utility of these systems, at conceptual and practical levels, and explores their contribution to an effective regulatory risk management approach.
Highlights
In European Union (EU) Food regulations, ‘Marine Biotoxins’ means poisonous substances accumulated by bivalve molluscs, in particular as a result of feeding on plankton containing toxins [1] (Annex I, 2.2)
Bivalve Molluscs (BMs) are recognised as posing specific marine biotoxin food safety risks, and in the European Union, the food chain most frequently implicated in biotoxin-related foodborne disease is that of bivalve molluscs, with the occasional implication of other fishery products including those derived from crustaceans and fin-fish
Perfect or ideal food safety risk management systems do not exist; all such systems represent a balance between negative impact such as costs on food production, burden on state services, or impingement of consumer choice and food security, and the positive impact on public health and industry reputation
Summary
In EU Food regulations, ‘Marine Biotoxins’ means poisonous substances accumulated by bivalve molluscs, in particular as a result of feeding on plankton containing toxins [1] (Annex I, 2.2). Biotoxin accumulation in marine organisms subsequently consumed as food brings the consequent potential of reaching concentrations that create a toxicosis risk in consumers of those products following harvest. Bivalve Molluscs (BMs) are recognised as posing specific marine biotoxin food safety risks, and in the European Union, the food chain most frequently implicated in biotoxin-related foodborne disease is that of bivalve molluscs, with the occasional implication of other fishery products including those derived from crustaceans and fin-fish. The inherent biotoxin risk in the bivalve mollusc food chain arises from the normal filter-feeding biology of these animals, which creates the potential for the bioaccumulation of biotoxins in their tissues, with a consequent magnification of the environmental concentration of toxins. Mussels are the most consumed mollusc species by EU consumers, followed by scallops and clams
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