Selfcontrol for food hygiene and traditional products: a possible coexistence.

In the last decade there has been an evolution in the concept of Quality. From an initial technical management of validation tests on the final products, nowadays the focus is on Total Quality Management, which includes application of GMP's, standardization of manufacturing processes, integration between quality control and production. In the early 70’s the strict safety requirements setup by NASA for foodstuffs to be used by astronauts, brought to the development of new concepts in hazards and risk management in food processing. This new approach was named HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) and is based on the identification and control of specific points in the food production chain, so to be able to guarantee the lowest possible health risk for the final consumer. However, in order to be effective HACCP needs a detailed analysis of the production system, starting from the supply of raw materials up to the final storage and/or commercialization steps, and above all of the utmost importance is the total involvement of the food manufacturers . In 1997 a new set of hygiene rules in food production became compulsory in Italy and since then there have been several problems in the application of these rules to many typical products obtained artisanally and whose consumption goes back to decades or even centuries. Because of these problems the Italian Ministry for Agricultural and Forestry Politics has recently published regulations for the identification of "traditional products", being considered traditional those foodstuffs obtained with processing and preserving technologies well established since at least 25 years. The exact definition of the manufacturing specifications allows also to identify the derogations to the existing food hygiene laws for which one should file an application, in order not to loose the typicality of well defined foodstuffs. To attain such goal is however fundamental to keep in strict contact with the producers and to try to identify all the typical products existing all over the country. This with the aim of making the best use of the EU rules about typical products and at the same time to preserve the consumers from any possible health hazards.