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Brussels, |
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Food Safety Hygiene
Food safety in the EU begins with hygiene. Since 2006, the Union has applied a harmonised food-hygiene policy to all food and all food businesses, from primary production to retail. This framework is known as the “Hygiene Package”, which replaced numerous earlier directives with a single, more coherent set of rules for all Member States.
Under the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3153, all food businesses must comply with basic hygiene requirements adapted to the nature and size of their operations. These include keeping premises clean and sanitary, ensuring an appropriate design and layout of food facilities, using safe water and raw materials, applying temperature control to prevent spoilage or contamination, and providing hygiene training for staff. Food business operators must also apply HACCP principles — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points — a risk-based method for identifying and controlling food safety hazards throughout the production process.
The EU framework also imposes specific hygiene rules for products of animal origin, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. These stricter requirements include detailed structural and operational standards for establishments like slaughterhouses, dairies and fish processing plants, as well as rules on handling, processing, transport, veterinary checks and health markings. These additional safeguards reflect the higher sanitary risks associated with animal-derived foods and are intended to prevent contamination and the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Overall, the EU hygiene regime creates a common legal and operational basis for food safety across the supply chain by combining general hygiene duties, risk-based control through HACCP, and stricter sectoral rules for higher-risk products.
Under the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3153, all food businesses must comply with basic hygiene requirements adapted to the nature and size of their operations. These include keeping premises clean and sanitary, ensuring an appropriate design and layout of food facilities, using safe water and raw materials, applying temperature control to prevent spoilage or contamination, and providing hygiene training for staff. Food business operators must also apply HACCP principles — Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points — a risk-based method for identifying and controlling food safety hazards throughout the production process.
The EU framework also imposes specific hygiene rules for products of animal origin, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. These stricter requirements include detailed structural and operational standards for establishments like slaughterhouses, dairies and fish processing plants, as well as rules on handling, processing, transport, veterinary checks and health markings. These additional safeguards reflect the higher sanitary risks associated with animal-derived foods and are intended to prevent contamination and the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Overall, the EU hygiene regime creates a common legal and operational basis for food safety across the supply chain by combining general hygiene duties, risk-based control through HACCP, and stricter sectoral rules for higher-risk products.
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