Safefood

Safefood, stylised safefood (also known as The Food Safety Promotion Board; FSPB)(Irish: An Bord um Chur Chun Cinn Sabháilteachta Bia;[1] Ulster-Scots: Tha Mait Safétie Fordèrin Boord[2] or The Meat Sauftie Forder Buird),[3] is the public body responsible for raising consumer awareness of issues relating to food safety and healthy eating across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in 1999, Safefood is one of six North-South implementation bodies established jointly by the British and Irish governments under the terms of the British-Irish Agreement Act.[4]

Safefood
Safefood logo
Public Body overview
Formed1999
JurisdictionNorthern Ireland and Republic of Ireland
HeadquartersCork, Republic of Ireland
Public Body executive
  • Ray Dolan (CEO)
Websitewww.safefood.eu

Safefood headquarters are in Little Island, Cork, with a second office in Dublin City centre.

Structure

Safefood is a multi-directorate organisation. The chief executive is guided by a twelve-member Advisory Board and a thirteen-member Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), taking policy direction from the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC).

Function

Its functions, as proscribed in law (British Irish Agreement Act 1999, annex I, part 2),[5] are:

  • Promotion of food safety
  • Research into food safety
  • Communication of food alerts
  • Surveillance of foodborne disease
  • Promotion of scientific co-operation and laboratory linkages
  • Development of cost-effective facilities for specialised laboratory testing.

Activities

Safefood is a multidisciplinary organisation employing expertise in both food science and nutrition. The body's research, educational and promotional activities center on the subjects of food safety[6][7][8][9] and healthy eating[10][11][12][13] and are delivered via media campaigns (e.g. television and radio advertisements and social media) and the publication of information resources for consumers and other stakeholders.

Examples of Safefood consumer campaigns on tackling excess weight and obesity amongst adults include Stop the Spread[14] and Weigh-2-Live[15] whilst safefood's If you Could see the Germs Spread[16] campaign aims to raise awareness amongst consumers of the health risks associated with poor food hygiene practices in the home.

In addition to media campaigns, Safefood core-funds the development and dissemination of educational resources on the topics of healthy eating and food hygiene practice for the pre-school, primary school and post-primary school curriculum in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (e.g. Safefood for Life and Tastebuds).

Safefood's scientific research activities include the support of professional collaboration via its Knowledge Networks programme and the publication of independent scientific reports aimed at consumers, public health and industry professionals and researchers.

Further reading
  • Citizen's Information[17]
  • The North-South Ministerial Council[18]

References
  1. 2006 annual report in Irish North/South Ministerial Council.
  2. 2006 annual report in Ulster-Scots Archived February 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine North/South Ministerial Council.
  3. 2010 annual report in Ulster-Scots Archived February 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine North/South Ministerial Council.
  4. BRITISH-IRISH AGREEMENT ACT, 1999 (see Annex 1, Part 2)
  5. British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999
  6. Irish Examiner – EU in Ireland
  7. O'Carroll, Sinead. "Dirty dishcloths: E.coli found on more than a quarter of household cloths". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  8. Children seriously ill from deadly bug – irishhealth.com
  9. "Over a quarter of dishcloths contain e.coli, survey finds". 30 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  10. "Nutritionists warn against fad diets". 29 December 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  11. "Fast food meals equal whole day's calories". 17 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  12. Pizzas really deliver the calories, experts warn – The Irish Times – Tue, Feb 28, 2012
  13. "Too much salt can leave more than just a bad taste - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  14. Safe food, stop the spread Archived 30 January 2013 at Archive.today
  15. "Politicians lend weight to campaign". 29 September 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  16. Waterford Today – New safefood research 'dishes the dirt' on dishcloths Archived 13 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Citizensinformation.ie. "Safefood - the Food Safety Promotion Board". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  18. "Food Safety Promotion Board". North South Ministerial Council. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
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