(EC) No. 852/2004 Food Hygiene Regulation Tests

The legal regulation (EC) 852/2004 published by the European Parliament and the Council lays down general rules for food business operators regarding the hygiene of foodstuffs, taking into account the following principles:

• The primary responsibility for food safety belongs to the food business operator.
• Food safety must be ensured throughout the food chain, starting from primary production.
• It is important that foods that cannot be stored safely at ambient temperatures, especially frozen foods, maintain their cold chain.
• The general application of procedures based on HACCP principles, along with the application of good hygiene practices, should strengthen the responsibilities of food business operators.
• Good practice guidelines are a valuable tool to assist food business operators at all levels of the food chain in complying with food hygiene rules and applying HACCP principles.
• It is necessary to establish microbiological criteria and temperature control requirements based on a scientific risk assessment.
• It is necessary to ensure that imported food has at least the same hygiene standard or an equivalent standard as food produced in European Union countries.

The legislation in question applies to all stages of production, processing and distribution of food and export, without prejudice to more specific requirements regarding food hygiene.

For the purposes of regulation (EC) 852/2004,

• Food hygiene refers to the measures and conditions necessary to control hazards and ensure suitability for human consumption, taking into account the intended use of a food item.
• Primary products refer to products of primary production, including land, livestock, hunting and fishing products.
• Contamination means the presence or entry of a hazard.
• Potable water refers to water that meets the minimum requirements set forth in Council directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water for human consumption.
• Processing refers to any action that significantly alters the initial product, including heating, smoking, curing, aging, drying, marinating, extraction, extrusion, or a combination of these processes.

Food business operators must ensure that all production, processing and distribution stages of the food under their control meet the hygiene requirements specified in this legal regulation.

Our organization also provides hygiene testing services for foodstuffs within the scope of regulation (EC) 852/2004, with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment, among the numerous test, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies it provides for businesses in various sectors.