The Ministry of Rural Development is developing a food chain safety strategy. The objective of the document is to determine the measures and instruments through which the protection of the health of consumers may continue to be most effectively realised.

A special goal of the strategy is the further decrease in food-related illnesses, including the number of infections that occur in households. A further goal – to be achieved through the filtering out of dishonest enterprises and increasing consumer awareness – is the efficient prevention of scandals that potentially endanger the health of the public and/or cause significant financial and ethical damage, and which as a result adversely affect both the domestic and international reputation of Hungarian foods.

Based on the current food safety status, Hungary – similarly to many other countries within the European Union – is among the safest places in the world.

The Ministry of Rural Development would like to include every social group involved in the preliminary preparation of the strategy: consumers, enterprises within the food chain (from agriculture and the processing industry to trade and the catering industry), after which it will also consult with experts from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and other institutions involved in research.

Consumers and enterprises may pass on their opinions and suggestions at the www.elelmiszerbiztonsagistrategia.hu and www.elelmiszerlanc.kormany.hu websites until the end of October.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)