The American food safety system: science, precaution and response to public opinion's demands

摘要

The international trade negotiations concerning food products are a battlefield for the European Union and the USA, at the centre of which is the question of the acknowledgement of the precautionary principle. The aim of this article is to understand the arguments of the American negotiators by studying their national food safety system. The article first describes the system's main guiding principles and what are the institutions involved in food safety. Then, it focuses on a surprising provision.The Delaney Clause, which was enacted in 1958, sets a zero tolerance standard for food additives that contain carcinogenic substances. Being in contradiction with the main principle of the system, that is the requirement of a sound science basis, this text seems to be the best example of the situations where the USA also take public opinion's demands into consideration.