Food Adulteration Act (National and International Perspective)

Since food adulteration is a major problem concerned with human health it is responsible for great financial loss. Maintenance of food safety right from the source to the end user can be ensured by enforcement of legislation and food regulations. There are various food regulations for maintaining safety of food (Table 2). Moreover, food security is an issue of major concern for all the nations around the globe as it has a serious impact on social, economical, and political stability (Mitra, 2008). The scenario of world food programme lays emphasis on food security and trade related to demand in international markets (Shah, 2007).

Legislation and regulations related to food aim to protect human health and facilitate food trade across boundaries of nations. Food-related regulations are constantly under review and the aim is to remain abreast

Table 2. Chronological development of food regulations.

Table 3. Different mycotoxins with classification and their toxic effects on health.

of and share technical knowledge and stay updated (Jol et al., 2006). International compatibility is very important and thus international food agreements provide uniform protection in terms of food and public health (Jol et al., 2006). As legislation differ in countries with vast and diverse regulations, some standard rules are important. Some of the common regulations are as follows.

4.1 Codex Alimentarius

Codex Alimentarius is an international code of practice followed by all member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) (Codex Alimentarius, 2003). Since there is a need for food safety and security around the globe, implementation of Codex Alimentarius or food code that contains all relevant guidelines, is in practice as stipulated by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Codex guidelines focus on international risk assessment bodies organized by FAO and WHO. Establishment of an international trade and uniformity among all the guidelines is the main aim of the Codex Alimentarius. These standards exist for processed, raw and semi-processed food. This actually helps in ensuring the security of the food systems (http:://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius). Codex regulations are related to processing conditions of food and these include temperature and time treatments, shelf-life, as well as packaging conditions for sensitive food items (Jol et al., 2006). Moreover, these guidelines cover safe and hygienic practices to maintain and package refrigerated foods. The major problem to handle with refrigerated food is the growth of microorganisms during refrigeration. Most of the other provisions deal with precooked and cooked food items, as well as packaging practices related to fresh vegetables and fruits.

The ATP agreement is adopted by many countries for transport of perishable food items in special containers in trains and wagons.

4.2 HACCP

Some serious outbreaks, such as Jack-in-box caused by E. Coli 0157:H7 in US and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in UK have increased the demand for a robust method for ensuring the safety of food worldwide (Weinroth et al., 2018). This resulted in the implementation of the Hazard Analysis at Critical Control Point System Worldwide in 1990s. Thus the HACCP was employed on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF). Moreover, the implementation of HACCP has been reported to reduce food-borne illnesses by 20 per cent (Weinroth et al., 2018). It has resulted in Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) system that has set up the benchmark for reducing food-borne diseases. HACCP is implemented for cold processed foods. The chronological development of HACCP was started in 1960 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA (Table 2).

4.3 ISO 22000

Other key standards are ISO 22000 and ISO 9000 for quality assurance of food. The new International Standard Organization (ISO, 2018), ISO 22000:2005 combines the principles of Codex and HACCP system to provide the international perspective on food safety for global approach 0ol et al.,

2006). ISO 22000 operates in close relation with food producers, transport and storage operators, packaging materials, additives, and ingredients. An organisation can be certified according to specific management standards as it helps to maintain unintentional adulteration during storage and processing of food.