ANNUAL REPORT 2022 | 23 FOODSTUFFS “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” —Hippocrates Ensuring safe, healthy and quality food is a very important component of protecting public health. The SGL carries out regular official controls and surveillance on foodstuffs, covering all parts of the food production chain, “from the field or farm to consumer’s table”. To this purpose, it carries out various national control programmes in cooperation with the competent authorities. Controls are of preventive nature and focus mainly on basic foods that are consumed frequently or may raise a specific problem, and on foodstuffs expected to be consumed by vulnerable groups of the population such as children and pregnant women. The SGL goes one step further beyond the analysis. It evaluates the degree of exposure to toxic substances and to related risks, therefore 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, as well as applied research, focusing on: y The prevention, investigation and problem-solving throughout the food chain for long-term food safety. y The effective implementation of the EU legislation. y 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. y The provision of valid information to consumers, based on scientific data, to form the correct nutritional/ eating habits. y The analysis and characterisation of traditional or local food, standardisation and authenticity control. The effectiveness of the 32 national control-monitoring-surveillance programmes on foodstuffs (chemical, microbiological, biological, radiological and physical safety) during 2022, managed to prevent the trade of non-compliant food, both on the national and the 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. Surveillance and control are carried out based on annual and multiannual programmes in the areas of quality/authenticity and safety of foodstuffs:
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