Main description:

People have the right to expect the food they eat to be safe and suitable for consumption. Foodborne illness and foodborne injury are at best unpleasant; at worst, they can be fatal. But there are also other consequences. Outbreaks of foodborne illness can damage trade and tourism, and lead to loss of earnings, unemployment and litigation. Food spoilage is wasteful, costly and can adversely affect trade and consumer confidence. Effective hygiene control, therefore, is vital to avoid the adverse human health and economic consequences of foodborne illness, foodborne injury, and food spoilage. Everyone, including farmers and growers, manufacturers and processors, food handlers and consumers, has a responsibility to ensure that food is safe and suitable for consumption.

The Codex basic texts on food hygiene promote understanding of how rules and regulations on food hygiene are developed and applied. The fifth edition on this publication contains texts adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission up to 2012, including the General Principles of food hygiene, which cover hygiene practices from primary production through to final consumption; the Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk Management, which provide principles and guidance on the application of risk assessment and management of microbiological hazards in foods; and the Principles for the Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the Guideline for Validation of Food Safety Control Measures, which provide guidance on the establishment and application of microbiological criteria for foods and on validation of control measures at any point in the food chain from primary production to final consumption.

French language edition.