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Global Environment Monitoring System - Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food)
Introduction to GEMS/Food
Since 1976, the Global Environment Monitoring System - Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme, which is commonly known as GEMS/Food, has informed governments, the Codex Alimentarius Commission and other relevant institutions, as well as the public, on levels and trends of contaminants in food, their contribution to total human exposure, and significance with regard to public health and trade. The Programme is implemented by the WHO in cooperation with a network of WHO Collaborating Centres and participating institutions located in over 70 countries around the world.
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GEMS/Food brochure - Working together for safer food [pdf 3.71Mb]
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WHO Collaborating Centres for Food Contamination Monitoring
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Participating countries [pdf 38kb]
Data collected by GEMS/Food is accessed through the Web-portal for health-related statistical information known as WHO SIGHT (Summary of Information on Global Health Trends). The GEMS/Food international databases include data on contaminants in individual foods or food groups and on contaminants in the total diet.
GEMS/Food maintains linkages with the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other parties interested in food contamination. It is an important part of national and international efforts to provide assurance regarding the safety of the food supply and provides the basis - where appropriate - for remedial actions, for standards development, for industry and public education and for resource management. In addition, GEMS/Food periodically prepares assessment documents to provide a global overview of problems of chemicals in food. These reports have addressed issues related to the levels of contaminants in various food and in the total diet. A report which focuses on data from total diet studies was prepared in 1992 (WHO/HPP/FOS/92.6) and another on contamination of human milk was issued in 1998 (WHO/FSF/FOS/98.4).
Food contamination monitoring is an essential component of assuring the safety of food supplies and managing health risks at the international level. As such, GEMS/Food provides basic information on hazard identification for setting priorities for Codex consideration. For example, if preliminary toxicological evaluations and/or exposure estimates suggest that adverse health effects might be expected for certain subgroups of the population, collection of more detailed information on exposure by GEMS/Food may be warranted. When the risk becomes sufficiently characterized, various management options may be considered, including the establishment of Codex standards.
Within the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the contamination of food by chemicals of health and trade significance is addressed by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) and the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR). Risk management decisions are highly dependent on comparable and reliable exposure assessments and GEMS/Food has provided assistance on a range of chemical issues to CCFAC and CCPR as well as to their scientific advisory bodies, namely JECFA and JMPR.
Global Environment Monitoring System - Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food):
1,2,3,4,5
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