State General Laboratory Annual Report 2019

32 State General laboratory Annual Report 2019 consumed by vulnerable groups of the population such as children and pregnant women. The SGL goes one step beyond the analysis. It evaluates the degree of exposure to toxic substances and to related risks, there- fore providing scientifically sound advice to competent Authorities for risk management through appropriate measures. The SGL has been designated as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for a large area of food analyses and applies an Integrated Multiannual National Control Plan consisting of individual programmes for surveillance, monitoring and control programmes, as well as applied research, focusing on:  The prevention, investigation and problem-solving throughout the food chain for long-term food safety  The effective implementation of the EU legislation  The food risk assessment, the establishment of nutritional data as well as food composition data in order to achieve stable supply of safe and wholesome food and healthy choices to consumers  The provision of valid information to consumers, based on scientific data, to form the correct nutritional/ eating habits  The analysis, characterisation and authenticity of traditional or local food The effectiveness of the 32 national control-monitoring-surveillance programmes on foodstuffs (chemical, mi- crobiological, biological, radiological and physical safety) managed to prevent the trade of non-compliant food, both in the national and EU market, and to provide useful information for the compilation of future control programmes. There are 16 specialised food laboratories in total which support and guarantee the extensive analytical control of the highest standards. 0 2.000 4.000 6.000 8.000 10.000 Foodstuffs Control (2008-2019) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Analysed samples Non-compliant samples Number of samples Foodstuffs Control (Chemical, Microbiological, Biological, Radiological, Physical Safety) (2008-2019)