Inaugural address of Prof. Michel Nielen
Hormones in beef, pesticides on fruit and toxic substances on grain produced by fungi are examples of unapproved substances in food products or their undesired contamination. A proactive government approach and an alert business community can limit the costly economic damage caused by such contamination. This was the theme of the inaugural address of Prof. dr. Michel Nielen upon his acceptance of the post of Professor by special appointment in the Detection of chemical food contaminants on 9 October at Wageningen University.
Food safety incidents come to light easily. This is partly because the food on our plate as the last step in a complex process, where microorganisms and undesired chemical substances (chemical contaminants) can enter the food chain. The human factor is crucial to this process, especially due to the lack of knowledge of those involved in the food chain, but also due to deliberate fraud and illegal trade, as shown by the recent melamine incident in China. One example closer to home is the acute toxicity resulting from eating meat containing residues of the forbidden growth stimulant clenbuterol that was used on beef cattle. Such incidents not only cause direct harm to victims, anxiety and uncertainty among consumers, but also major harm to the finances and image of important business sectors. The trust that we have in our food quality is an important social good; in the banking sector, it can be seen what happens when trust ebbs away. According to Prof. Nielen, this decline in trust can be largely prevented if the participants in the food chain, such as the business community, cooperate and if the government is permanently proactive.
In his inaugural address, "Speuren naar onbekende contaminanten in de voedselketen" (Detecting unknown contaminants in the food chain), Prof. dr. Michel Nielen called for a systematically organised approach. "There are certain preconditions to the successful detection of relevant problems in the food chain," stated Nielen. "Companies tend to think in the short term. To optimise profits, they are compelled to downplay the risks and possible problems of tomorrow with the idea that ‘it won't be so bad’. A system based only on self-regulation is therefore not in the interest of the consumer."
According to Nielen, all the participants in the food chain must remain alert about potential unexpected risks. For example, due to climate change, the chemistry of very toxic substances that are produced by natural fungi on grains can also change, and due to fraud, unexpected hormones can appear in the food chain. In both cases, these substances would be missed in the standard monitoring system.
Even though the government is stepping back from market interference, it should actually monitor the food chain continuously and more intensively for undesired contaminants. Government information specialists have already mapped out high-risk aspects, such as the route of illegal animal medications, trade flows and animal shipments. As a result, the costs of proactive systematic monitoring of high-risk aspects of the food chain are easily counterbalanced by preventing the economic damage from food safety incidents. Moreover, according to Nielen, a proactive approach can have a preventive effect.
Bio-active substances
Prof. Nielen called for samples to be tested, but not for the presence of a select number of high-risk chemicals – as is currently the case – but instead for their biological activity. In this way, unknown, illegally manufactured substances or chemically bound – and therefore undetectable – toxic substances would no longer escape the monitoring system.
Prof. dr. Michel Nielen works at RIKILT (Institute for Food Safety) and the Organic Chemistry group of Wageningen University, both of which are components of Wageningen UR.
Note to the editor
For additional information, please contact Prof. dr. Michel Nielen (RIKILT - Wageningen UR), tel. 0317 480407, michel.nielen@wur.nl or Jeannette Leenders, Communication adviser for RIKILT, tel. 0317 480245, jeannette.leenders@wur.nl