Food Safety & Nutrition

The Committee on General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius, the organization responsible for setting international food standards, is chaired by France (all committees of Codex are chaired by a representative of a country, elected by the others: for instance, the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene is chaired by an American). The 31st session of this […]

A new French Food Chain Health Monitoring platform was launched at the end of July 2018. Its 14 founding organizational members signed an outline agreement embodying their desire to collectively strengthen health monitoring of the food supply chain. The French ministries of agriculture, health and consumer protection, French scientific organizations, technical institutes, professional organizations, and […]

Stéphane Travert, French Minister of Agriculture and Food, accompanied by the Minister of Health and Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (for consumer protection policies), signed a decree concerning the Nutri-score nutritional labeling system in France (a visual nutritional information system). Multiple different large grocery store companies are already participating in the program and use […]

On Oct. 27, in accordance with the norms of the World Organisation for Animal Health, France has recovered its status as being a country free of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This result was obtained thanks to cleaning all outbreaks of H5N8 HPAI identified between the end of 2016 and June 2017 and the absence […]

The French Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll, recently signed the second National Pact Against Food Waste for the period of 2017-2020. This plan aims for a 50% reduction in food waste by 2025, through encouraging better management of unsold food products and food donations, by reinforcing innovation and partnerships between actors, deploying new communication […]

The French Ministry of Agriculture along with the French Ministry of Health and Social Affairs launched a national charter aiming to promote responsible and sustainable food in establishments like nursing homes and homes for people with disabilities. The medical-social establishments that commit to this charter pledge to offer healthy and appropriate food to the seniors […]

The publication of results from food safety inspections in the food industry (restaurants, cafeterias, slaughterhouses, etc.) is a legitimate expectation of citizens that adds to consumer confidence in the food industry. Initially proposed by law in 2014, this measure is part of the evolution toward greater transparency on the part of the government. A decree […]

France’s innovative EcoAntibio plan announced big, positive news last month concerning its efforts to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture. The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety has just published findings that the goal of reducing the use of antibiotics by 25% in five years (2012-2016) is in progress to […]

Due to a rapidly changing climate caused by global greenhouse gas emissions, managing and providing for food security through innovative methods must be a key focus of international actors in the years to come. Following up on a study published in 2011 on “World Food Security in 2050,” two prominent French agricultural research institutions have […]

As part of its comprehensive food nutrition program, the French Ministry of Agriculture releases an “Almanac of my cafeteria” which provides detailed information on making the school food experience nutritious and balanced, but also tasty and enjoyable. These almanacs are part of France’s overall school food cafeteria policies to encourage a healthy relationship with and […]