Introduction
Among the many problems of the food industry, the identification of food products is the most relevant and multifaceted. The absence of clear evaluation criteria and often methodological bases, the prevailing economic conditions, and actively developing technologies – all this and much more contributes to the complexity of the identification process. Defects and shortcomings of raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished food products occur when the technological parameters of production and storage are violated. As a result, such products do not meet the requirements of technical documentation and cannot be sold to the public.
Tampering
The problem of tampering of food products remains one of the main ones since the transition of human society from a natural economy to commodity and commodity-money relations. In a broad sense, falsification can be considered as actions aimed at worsening the consumer properties of a product or reducing its quantity while maintaining the most characteristic but non-existent properties for its use (Okpala, 2019). Falsification of food products is often done by giving them some of the most typical features, such as appearance, with a general deterioration in the rest of the most significant properties of nutritional value.
There is no direct or indirect risk to food safety, but there is a misrepresentation of information about the product’s composition or the country of origin. A customer may be deceived into buying an environmentally friendly product or a product that does not contain animal products, or their religious needs may be violated, as is the case with kosher products. In addition, there is an immediate danger to the health of consumers, which is increased by the regular consumption of counterfeit products.
Bioterrorism
However, terrorist attacks using biological weapons can be much more dangerous regarding the degree of consequences. This component is highly pathogenic microorganisms and various toxins produced by biological systems. A bioterrorist attack in the early stages can be mistaken for a natural outbreak of an infectious disease epidemic, which can lead to many victims since biological weapons generally have a delayed effect (Gori & Tomar, 2020). Biological weapons have many specific features that make them seem very effective. The high destructive power and efficiency of biological weapons make it possible to distribute them efficiently and, if necessary, increase the affected area (Gori & Tomar, 2020). A deliberate attack on food supplies is plausible and potentially catastrophic economically and in terms of loss of life. However, foodborne illness caused by unintended events is a constant and actual daily occurrence leading to illness and death.
Food Safety Standards
Generally, foodborne illnesses are infectious diseases or intoxications caused by bacteria, viruses, or chemicals that enter the body through contaminated water or food. The systems of international standards have a large number of criteria for the safety and quality of products and technologies for their production, storage, and supply. This system has thousands of different standards developed and controlled by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the world’s largest and most influential standards organization. More than 90 countries have adopted ISO as a national standard (International Organization for Standardization 2021). The most common and widely applicable industries of different industry types are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 (Alsulamy et al., 2022). They regulate the requirements for such areas as a quality management system, environmental management, and much more (Alsulamy et al., 2022). Every country cares about the preservation of food safety, and thus, the population’s health follows established food safety standards.
Conclusion
The global spread of junk food is not only detrimental to human health. The phenomenon has economic consequences: export is limited, and public catering enterprises suffer losses. Information about the danger and the proper composition of food products should be conveyed to consumers. Food safety issues, federal laws, sanitary norms, and rules are controlled at the state level. Various threats to human health, caused by such different problems as tampering and bioterrorism, are equally dangerous for countries worldwide. They undermine the quality of food products and jeopardize safety. To prevent and control, global food safety standards have been created and continue to evolve.
References
Alsulamy, S., Dawood, S., Rafik, M., & Mansour, M. (2022). Industrial sectors’ perceptions about the benefits of implementing ISO 14001 standard: MANOVA and discriminant analysis approach. Sustainability, 14(9), 5025.
Gori, S., & Tomar, A. S. (2020). Bioterrorism & Biodefense: An environmental and public health preparedness. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 12(2).
International Organization for Standardization. ISO. (2021). Web.
Okpala, C. O. (2019). Towards enhancing the detection of adulteration in bioactive food products. Journal of Food Bioactives, 6.