食品安全に関する制度の現状と課題

抄録

Recently, we have experienced large-scale accidents and events concerned with food safety. Through these experiences it became clear that there were some problems in the food safety administration and the food system of our country. This paper explains the role which Japanese law and administrative organization concerned with food safety play in order to reduce damage to consumer health. The following problem is pointed out in order to build “a system for ensuring food safety from the farm to the table”:
1) A consistent principle by which to coordinate food safety administration is needed. A big gap exists between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
2) From agriculture production to consumption, a consistent law is needed. Though many such laws exist, because of the gap that exists between these laws, a satisfactory effect is not achieved by them.
3) We must introduce the guidelines of “risk analysis” to the food safety administration and food system.
To solve the above problems, we must ensure the actual effecting of the “Food Safety Basic Law” and “Food Safety Committee recommendations”, which are now under government review.
To cope with these realistic problems, the food safety researcher is also being asked for the following changes in recognition.
1) We should think that the reduction of risk to consumer health reduces the risk to producer management.
2) We should demonstrate the logic of the social regulation of food safety.
3) We should present the means of concrete regulation, and introduce a new theoretical outline called “cost-effect analysis of health risk reduction” in place of “cost-benefit analysis”.
4) We may be able to provide data for risk assessment. Fixed quantity data or qualitative information about food consumption, production and circulation are being looked for.