Safefood (also known as The Food Safety Promotion Board; FSPB; ; Ulster-Scots: ''Tha Mait Safétie Fordèrin Boord'' or ''The Meat Sauftie Forder Buird''), is the public body responsible for raising consumer awareness of issues relating to

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, food processing, preparation, and food storage, storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a simi ...

and

healthy eating A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A he ...

across the island of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). Founded in 1999, Safefood is one of six North-South implementation bodies established jointly by the British and Irish governments under the terms of the British-Irish Agreement Act. Safefood's headquarters are in Little Island, Cork, with a second office in Dublin City centre.

Structure

Safefood is a multi-directorate organisation. The chief executive is guided by a twelve-member Advisory Board and a thirteen-member Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), and takes policy direction from the

North/South Ministerial Council The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) (, Ulster-Scots: ) is a body established under the Good Friday Agreement to co-ordinate activity and exercise certain governmental powers across the whole island of Ireland. The Council takes the for ...

(NSMC).

Function

Its functions, as proscribed in law (''British Irish Agreement Act 1999, annex I, part 2''), are: *Promotion of food safety *Research into food safety *Communication of food alerts *Surveillance of foodborne disease *Promotion of scientific co-operation and laboratory linkages *Development of cost-effective facilities for specialised laboratory testing.

Activities

Safefood is a multidisciplinary organisation employing expertise in both

food science Food science (or bromatology) is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing ...

and nutrition. The body's research, educational, and promotional activities center on the subjects of food safety and healthy eating and are delivered via media campaigns (''e.g.'' television and radio advertisements and social media) and the publication of information resources for consumers and other stakeholders. Examples of Safefood consumer campaigns on tackling excess weight and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

amongst adults include ''Stop the Spread'' and ''Weigh-2-Live'', while safefood's ''If you Could see the Germs Spread'' campaign aims to raise awareness amongst consumers of the health risks associated with poor food hygiene practices in the home.

References

{{Reflist British–Irish Agreement implementation bodies Food safety organizations Medical and health organisations based in the Republic of Ireland

Structure

Function

Activities

Further reading

References