Pre-harvest food safety
WHO strives to develop sustainable and integrated food safety systems for the reduction of public health risks along the entire food chain, from primary producer to the consumer. This is because pre-harvest food safety is an essential element of any sustainable animal production and integrated food safety systems.
Towards this effort, a WHO Consultation on Pre-Harvest Food Safety was held with the participation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Office International des Epizooties 26-28 March 2001 at the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine, BgVV, in Berlin, Germany.
The recommendations or the report provide a framework to improve on-farm measures for increased safety of food of animal origin. They will support and guide national authorities in their respective activities and in the establishment of control programs.
The challenge will be to further develop and implement pre-harvest food safety strategies. There is a clear need for reliable and well functioning pre-harvest food safety systems. These should include the reduction, prevention, control and surveillance of the public health risks in farm-animal production and should be guided by risk-analysis.
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Pre-harvest food safety : report of a WHO consultation with the participation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Office of International des Epizooties [pdf 68kb]
Berlin, Germany 26-28 November 2001.
Ref: WHO/CDS/CSR/EPH/2002.9