No Such Things As Perfectly Safe Products
No Such Things As Perfectly Safe Products
There is no such thing as a perfectly safe products anywhere in the world. There is only excellent product. Excellence products command premium quality and/or high safety, same with food items. In product safety generally, perfection is not possible because anything can be unsafe or injurious if it is abused, mishandled or misused. A one liter bucket of clean water can be a drowning hazard to a toddler but could be premium in the hand of a thirsty adult. Without sanity checks or allowable intake of food additive in regards to citizenry and cultural peculiarity, this could possibly trigger hazards, and economic misfortune; increase burden on health budget, immuno-compromised citizens, poor reputation, etc. This why I am worry that we don't have limit for use of sunset yellow. A food additive that has been ban in UK and part of Europe
The fact is, it's impossible to eliminate all hazards from any products. This is the brain behind permissible limit, residue limit, risk assessment, warning, caution and other instructive guide (food label). Regulatory bodies do put maximum limit forward as industry safety standards. For example, sodium benzoates in food in Nigeria is put at 250mg/kg
Hazard is a potential source of harm. Harm can be personal injury or damage from other sources. It ranges from relatively mild to severe damages and its exposure can be low or high. Undocumented and unorganized tracking of food poisoning incidents in a society can possibly command high level of food hazards exposure compare to a data driving society. Likewise, absence of verifiable food consumption survey; food additive consumption and concentration data, no doubt enhance high hazard. This becomes worse if individual is sandwiched in a society of severe hazard and high exposure.
While risk on the other hand, is the combination of hazard severity and hazard exposure. It is the probability of harm and the severity of harm. It is the most truest measure for safety. Every risk analysis depends on risk assessment which deals with harm probability and severity.
If no product is completely free from harm i.e risk, then there is a level of risk that is safe?
There is acceptable risk and unacceptable risk. Hence, permissible limits are acceptable risk.
Safety is an acceptable risk that is certain not to cause damage or injury if properly handled. It is freedom from unacceptable or unreasonable risk, hazard or harm, not freedom from risk because all hazards or risks cannot be eliminated
In the same vein, a food product is unsafe if it presents an unreasonable risk or harm to the consumers. This means before a permissible limit is designed, tests for reasonably foreseeable abuse, human factors, demographic test trial on misuse and even surveys must be conducted as expected
Conditions that establish whether hazard, or risk is acceptable or permissible are
Unavailability of alternative safer additive (in this case) that can meet the same need; there are lot of preservatives other that benzoates and colourants which sometimes contain ascorbates leading to formation of benzene which can be used. Remember less than four brands from the manufacturer never pass UK safety test
Obviousness of danger; its unknown to Nigerians that some colourants come with ascorbates, reacting with benzoates to form benzene or taking Vit C, with it could trigger this carcinogen
Common knowledge and public expectation of dangers; the populace is ignorant of the danger of benzene and attributing factors
Avoidability of injury by reasonable care; Nigerians know little or nothing about food label and so are not empower to avoid foods not suitable to their health conditions. Also most of this non alcoholic food drinks suffer poor storage condition which favours benzene formation
Food safety excellence or permissible excellence as demonstrated by developed regulatory professional is attributed to understanding the big picture. It entails two parameters; state of the art and holistic approach or what is called comprehension.
State of the art symbolizes best level of technical knowledge, information, resources and standards that exist at the time of assessment. Anything short of this would always cause embarrassment or setback.
State of the art approach to food safety and quality is highly possible and expected for everyone at least consume food substances daily.
Comprehension talks about technical collaboration, safe design, design qualification, supplier and product qualification, processes and auditing.
This must not be done in isolation from the consumers or using foreign culture and consumption survey.
The surest way to upheld excellence in term of safety is to prevent defects from occurring in the first place as it is cost effective to prevent adulteration, defect, food poisoning and impossible to eliminate all error or food fraud once they are inherent in food product or in circulation
There is no such thing as a perfectly safe products anywhere in the world. There is only excellent product. Excellence products command premium quality and/or high safety, same with food items. In product safety generally, perfection is not possible because anything can be unsafe or injurious if it is abused, mishandled or misused. A one liter bucket of clean water can be a drowning hazard to a toddler but could be premium in the hand of a thirsty adult. Without sanity checks or allowable intake of food additive in regards to citizenry and cultural peculiarity, this could possibly trigger hazards, and economic misfortune; increase burden on health budget, immuno-compromised citizens, poor reputation, etc. This why I am worry that we don't have limit for use of sunset yellow. A food additive that has been ban in UK and part of Europe
The fact is, it's impossible to eliminate all hazards from any products. This is the brain behind permissible limit, residue limit, risk assessment, warning, caution and other instructive guide (food label). Regulatory bodies do put maximum limit forward as industry safety standards. For example, sodium benzoates in food in Nigeria is put at 250mg/kg
Hazard is a potential source of harm. Harm can be personal injury or damage from other sources. It ranges from relatively mild to severe damages and its exposure can be low or high. Undocumented and unorganized tracking of food poisoning incidents in a society can possibly command high level of food hazards exposure compare to a data driving society. Likewise, absence of verifiable food consumption survey; food additive consumption and concentration data, no doubt enhance high hazard. This becomes worse if individual is sandwiched in a society of severe hazard and high exposure.
While risk on the other hand, is the combination of hazard severity and hazard exposure. It is the probability of harm and the severity of harm. It is the most truest measure for safety. Every risk analysis depends on risk assessment which deals with harm probability and severity.
If no product is completely free from harm i.e risk, then there is a level of risk that is safe?
There is acceptable risk and unacceptable risk. Hence, permissible limits are acceptable risk.
Safety is an acceptable risk that is certain not to cause damage or injury if properly handled. It is freedom from unacceptable or unreasonable risk, hazard or harm, not freedom from risk because all hazards or risks cannot be eliminated
In the same vein, a food product is unsafe if it presents an unreasonable risk or harm to the consumers. This means before a permissible limit is designed, tests for reasonably foreseeable abuse, human factors, demographic test trial on misuse and even surveys must be conducted as expected
Conditions that establish whether hazard, or risk is acceptable or permissible are
Unavailability of alternative safer additive (in this case) that can meet the same need; there are lot of preservatives other that benzoates and colourants which sometimes contain ascorbates leading to formation of benzene which can be used. Remember less than four brands from the manufacturer never pass UK safety test
Obviousness of danger; its unknown to Nigerians that some colourants come with ascorbates, reacting with benzoates to form benzene or taking Vit C, with it could trigger this carcinogen
Common knowledge and public expectation of dangers; the populace is ignorant of the danger of benzene and attributing factors
Avoidability of injury by reasonable care; Nigerians know little or nothing about food label and so are not empower to avoid foods not suitable to their health conditions. Also most of this non alcoholic food drinks suffer poor storage condition which favours benzene formation
Food safety excellence or permissible excellence as demonstrated by developed regulatory professional is attributed to understanding the big picture. It entails two parameters; state of the art and holistic approach or what is called comprehension.
State of the art symbolizes best level of technical knowledge, information, resources and standards that exist at the time of assessment. Anything short of this would always cause embarrassment or setback.
State of the art approach to food safety and quality is highly possible and expected for everyone at least consume food substances daily.
Comprehension talks about technical collaboration, safe design, design qualification, supplier and product qualification, processes and auditing.
This must not be done in isolation from the consumers or using foreign culture and consumption survey.
The surest way to upheld excellence in term of safety is to prevent defects from occurring in the first place as it is cost effective to prevent adulteration, defect, food poisoning and impossible to eliminate all error or food fraud once they are inherent in food product or in circulation
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