Food safety & security

Food systems are evolving, giving rise to new food safety challenges. In particular complex global trading, increasing global population and climate change are impacting the safety of our food. 

Political commitment to developing and strengthening national food control systems is key to ensuring a safe food supply. 

An understanding of the linkage between globalised food production systems, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, animal health, food and feed safety and consumer nutrition is fundamental for governments as they build internationally recognised national food safety control systems. 

In parallel, the agri-food industry must embed robust management systems (food safety management systems, good agricultural / aquaculture practices etc) to manage hazards across the food and feed chain and ensure the health of plants and animals and the safety of food and feed.

Concerns surrounding climate change, anticipated population explosion, fluctuations in food prices and other international incidents such as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are forcing policymakers to reconsider their food security policies and increase the robustness of food supply chains. 

Improving resilience to global shocks is imperative to national food security. Supply chain optimisation is a key factor in curbing potential risks of disruption. Countries with higher exposure to trade volatility and climate issues are particularly fragile.

At Farrelly and Mitchell our food safety and food security consulting teams, along with our network of international and sector specialists, support governments in building control systems and industry in strengthening their management systems. Our work centres around achieving a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply chain aimed at reducing the impact of foodborne disease and malnutrition. 

Our experts have worked across the EU agri-food regulatory area, in particular the Irish regulatory system as well as other regulatory bodies across the globe. We support governments and policymakers in developing domestic and overseas policies and strategies to mitigate the impact of supply chain shocks on local food chains. 

Our team also have wide experience in supporting the agri-food industry in managing food safety risks and achieving regulatory compliance.