ABSTRACT
The three main elements in food safety are chemical safety, microbiological safety, and societal concerns. Food additives have received far less recent attention by both the Dutch consumer organization Consumentenbond as by the international network of consumer organizations—Consumer International. Chemical safety is one of the principal issues in food safety that is shared by both consumers as well as consumer organizations. Both consumers and consumer organizations are in favor of restricting the use of food additives. For consumers, contaminants represent a major food safety concern because they are seen as part of the “chemical threat” of food. Pesticides are an essential part of modern high-input agriculture. The main food safety issues were toxic threats by chemical substances such as pesticides, environmental toxins, and synthetic food additives. The importance of food additives as a health issue has dropped, as it has in the assessment of consumer organizations.
