Pediatric Nutrition in Practice

1 Special Aspects of Childhood Nutrition

Key Words

Food safety · Food hygiene · Residues ·

Contaminants · Production · Processing ·

Preparation · Storage · Standards · Code of practice

Key Messages

• Nutritional safety of foods for infants and young chil-
  dren can be assessed by clinical studies, while micro-
  bial and chemical safety must be defined by risk
  analysis, regulated by law and monitored by controls


• Young and immature infants are particularly sus-
  ceptible to microbial and chemical hazards from
  food


• Safe water, both chemically and microbially, is
  needed for the preparation of food for infants and
  young children particularly


• Safe food products can become unsafe in the
  course of inappropriate handling, preparation and
  storage © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Introduction

While nutritional safety is the outcome tested in
appropriate clinical studies by nutrition science
[1, 2] , chemical and microbial safety of food is not
tested in humans but is the object of regulations,
standards and codes of practice developed on a

global basis, e.g. by the Codex Alimentarius es-

tablished in 1961 by the FAO (Food and Agricul-

ture Organization of the United Nations) and the

WHO, which are to be implemented by national

legislation. Numerous scientific bodies consisting

of independent experts advise on limits for resi-

dues, contaminants, naturally occurring toxins,

food additives and infectious agents based on tox-

icological and microbial risk assessment to mini-

mize the risk of foodborne diseases, while the

FAO has established an Emergency Prevention

System for Food Safety (EMPRES Food Safety) to

serve as a key international system to assist in the

prevention and management of global food safety

emergencies, including the three pillars of early

warning, emergency prevention and rapid re-

sponse [3].

Foodborne diseases are caused by agents that

enter the body through the ingestion of food and

water and are a growing public health problem.

Food and waterborne diseases k ill approximately

3 million people annually, most of whom are chil-

dren. In industrialized countries, the percentage

of people suffering from foodborne diseases each

year has been reported to be up to 30%. They are

caused most often by microorganisms such as

bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasites, by nat-

urally occurring toxins such as mycotoxins, by

Koletzko B, et al. (eds): Pediatric Nutrition in Practice. World Rev Nutr Diet. Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 113, pp 78–82
DOI: 10.1159/000360319

1.6 Food Safety

Hildegard Przyrembel