Dutch experts discussed a range of microbial and chemical safety topics in 2023 and rated them in terms of risk.

To identify new food safety risks as early as possible, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality established the Signalling Consultation Food Safety (SO-V) in 2020. 

It has two parts. One for microbiological risks (SO-VM) and the other for chemical risks (SO-VC). Both sections include food safety experts from various institutes and the corporate sector. Experts collect signals and interpret them together. In 2023, each section had four meetings in which 60 signals were discussed.

If a signal gives cause for further investigation it is referred to the Signalling Consultation Coordination. This includes representatives from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). This group decides what, if any, actions should be taken in response to a signal. In 2023, the SO-VM section referred two signals, and SO-VC referred six signals to the Signalling Consultation Coordination.

Summary of highlighted topics
Fifteen new signals were assessed by the microbial risks section. The chemical risks group looked into 36 new signals and nine open ones from previous years. For some signals, the interpretation by the SO-V was not complete so they were not included in the repor...