Ensuring food safety: general principles for safeguarding what you eat including the role of food labels

There is an implicit-and reasonable-assumption that the food we buy is safe for consumption. However, food regulatory schemes face very real challenges in regulating to ensure that safety. One such challenge is posed by new technologies and technological processes within the agri-food sector. This chapter examines how food regulatory regimes are responding to nanobased food products to ensure food safety. To do this, it is important to first understand the framework in which they operate and the general principles governing their operation. This is examined in the first part of this chapter. The second part of the chapter provides an overview of this global architecture and the key principles underpinning it. These standards and principles are then incorporated and reflected in the national schemes through their vested powers and regulatory tools. With the question of labeling continuing to be a contentious issue among stakeholders the third part of this chapter provides an in-depth examination of the so-called nanolabeling debate, framed by the general principles outlined in the second part. The chapter concludes by reminding us of the real value of food, and the myriad of challenges it presents to policy makers and regulators alike, regardless of the technology used to produce it.