Column Judith Witte: Making tough choices

A wide range of incidents came up this spring: warnings about kale and spinach containing bits of rubber, Indonesian Sajoer spice paste with shards of glass, pesto contaminated with pieces of plastic, and chocolate bars with bits of stone. The Dutch children’s song “Zand op je boterham” (Sand on your sandwich) instantly popped into my head and stayed there for days. That kind of earworm is hard to get rid of. Not so different from the damage to a company’s reputation after a product recall.

The (quality) managers at the affected companies probably went through their production lines grinding their teeth after discovering these unwelcome extras. Possibly even literally, if they tried to test whether the warnings were justified. But mostly figuratively, of course. And then there’s that one question that keeps spinning around in your mind like an annoying tune you can’t shake: where did it go wrong?

“Where did it go wrong?” — no doubt that’s what many people were thinking the day after King's Day in the Netherlands this year. Was it that undercooked burger from the stall next to the portable toilets? The eel sandwich that had likely been sitting out in the sun too long? Or maybe the charred skewers at the food stand in front of the student housing? It was a beautifully sunny day, with temperatures finally reaching 20 degrees Celsius in some places. Unfortunately, that also increased the risk of spoiled food. On top of that, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) had announced that this year they would not be deploying inspectors to monitor street food sales. For years, a team of inspectors would fan out across the country on King's Day, just as much a tradition as the music festivals and orange pastries, to ensure hygiene standards were being followed at flea markets. But with a reduced budget from the Ministry of Health, "tough choices" had to be made, according to the NVWA. There simply wasn’t money available for inspections this year. Based on an analysis of past inspection results, the NVWA said the food safety risks on King's Day are relatively low. A reassuring thought? Probably not for those who spent the day after the festivities doubled up in bed with stomach cramps.

Food processing companies also constantly face tough choices (and in this case, “tough” should definitely not be taken literally — spice paste can be sharp, but preferably not because of glass shards). Insufficient funding to ensure food safety should never be one of the options. Let’s make sure things don’t go wrong.

Judith Witte
Editor-in-Chief vakblad Voedingsindustrie