What is Food defense and where does it come from?

Purpose

Food defense is a security approach to prevent food from being contaminated by deliberate action. This makes food defense an addition to food safety, which is aimed at preventing accidental contamination. 

The field of food defense originated in the United States. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US government designated the food industry as one of the vital infrastructures. In 2002 the Bioterrorism Act was passed. The Food and Drug Authority has drawn up food defense requirements in response to this. 

These requirements apply to all American companies, but also to companies that export their products to the American market. A number of requirements with regard to food defense are the following

• Have a food defense plan.
• A security risk analysis.
• A food defense action plan.
• Site separation and access control.
• Awareness of food defence.
• Organization on food defence.

Food defense and food safety have the same goal: a safe product to protect the consumer, brand and industry. However, the method and knowledge for food defense is completely different from food safety. The HACCP method is used for food safety. However, it is not suitable for food defence. Security knowledge is required for food defence. It is also important that food defense measures do not disrupt production and logistics processes. 

Food defense is a concept that is largely still in its infancy and will probably continue to develop in the coming years. That is why we have chosen to briefly explain food defense here and recommend that you keep a close eye on developments in the field of food defense.