National approach for evaluation and control of wine safety: Guide to good hygiene practices for French wine industry

Abstract

The adaptation of wines to the market requirements have involved changes in wine making processes. Improved methods of analysis now allow to detect traces of compounds injurious for consumers' health. In collective imagination, wines remain born from traditional methods, pathogen free and, by extension, free of any health concern. Consumers now access easily to detailed information, and various media allow them to get a hold on the subject of wine safety. The contents encountered are sometimes alarming and create many questions enable to damage the image of the product. In order to support French wine makers facing the rise of this theme and answer European regulation, IFV has developed with French professional organizations a guide to good hygiene practices (GGHP) including hazard analysis for wine industry. The aim was to provide all companies a reference document approved by the French authorities and pool most of the principles of HACCP to limit the task of smaller businesses. The GGHP details essential good practices that have to be implemented by every company of wine industry, regardless its size and the kind of wine produced. It also describes hazard analysis and specific recommendations for each one and gives recommendations and tools to manage them.