New EU regulation defines “Food Safety Culture”

The European Union (EU) recently adopted a regulation requiring food business operators to establish and provide evidence of an appropriate food safety culture and detailing the steps they must take to satisfy this obligation. Food safety culture also is a priority area within the United States, and it is one of the four pillars of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) New Era of Smarter Food Safety. However, there are no FDA regulations or guidance documents defining food safety culture. Although the EU regulation is not enforceable for food sold in the United States, the regulation may be of interest to U.S. food companies because it helps identify what it means to regulators for a food company to have a strong food safety culture and the types of activities that potentially can demonstrate that a company is fostering a strong food safety culture within its business.

On 3 March 2021, the European Commission adopted Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/382, which amends an existing food safety regulation ((EC) No 852/2004). EU 2021/282 adds the following new chapter to EC No 852/2004: