FOOD, PUBLIC HEALTH AND CONSUMER IN A GLOBALIZED MARKET

摘要

While the majority of people in developing countries and a growing percentage in "developed" countries starve to death due to lack of adequate food, growing parts of "developed" communities "commit suicide" through over-consumption or wrong use of food. A large portion of the world population (15-20%) is struggling for food to survive, unable to exercise the fundamental "right to food"; and this is definitely placing a large question mark on the ethics of our society. On the other hand, lack of essential consumer education about food and healthy eating leads to lack of capacity to choose «the right food». A large population percentage (i.e. 30-40%) in "developed" countries belongs to the categories of overweight or obese and these percentages are growing at a fast, alarming rate, posing a severe threat for collapse of the health system in many countries, as obesity and wrong eating cause a long series of chronic, non-transmittable diseases. In parallel, these phenomena (i.e. severe malnutrition, diet related diseases and death due to under-feeding, over-feeding or wrong eating) pose serious questions on the effectiveness and actual contribution of Food Sciences towards the real well - being of modern society. With respect to food quality and safety, intensification of production systems led to new, unsustainable production practices that introduced new hazards with different form and/or scale compared to the old ones. The end result is food crises and scandals (i.e. dioxins, hormones, antibiotics, BSE, etc), which lead to loss of consumer confidence to the food industry. Under the pressure of such crises the EU was forced to adapt the White Bible and establish the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is responsible for assessment and communication of food related hazards. During the last years, food production practices (i.e. environmental impact, sustainability) and ethics have become important quality characteristics that greatly affect consumer preference. Thus, serious reservations of consumers/citizens about the impact of genetic engineering on environment, biodiversity and world food market control led to substantially decreased acceptance of genetically modified food (GMF). With due respect to the fundamental consumer right for free, informed and unforced choice, EU has legally enforced obligatory labelling of GMF, a practice that has not been adapted by the US government (for obvious reasons). Round and adequate consumer training on food (quality, safety) and healthy eating constitutes an absolute prerequisite for assuring well - being and effective protection against misleading labelling and/or misleading advertisements. Such training must become a basic constituent of primary and secondary education that will enable today's student to become an informed, responsible, self-protected citizen.