Column Saskia Stender: It’ll probably be fine

“It’ll probably be fine, I trust the system.” I hear it more often than I’d like. And honestly, I catch myself thinking the same thing sometimes. You see a process, a product, or a situation and automatically assume it’s all under control. In a way, that trust makes sense. The foundation of food safety in the Netherlands is solid. And you should be able to assume that everything is geared toward keeping us safe. Nobody wants a recall. Systems, inspections, and protocols are set up properly. That’s not where the issue lies.

The issue is in what happens day to day. In reality, operations are dynamic and sometimes simply messy. On top of that, everything keeps getting more complex. Even the Dutch dietary guidelines aren’t what they used to be anymore; suddenly, it’s no longer just about our health, but the planet’s as well. Less meat, more plant-based products, different raw materials. It may sound logical on paper, but in practice it’s a lot more complicated. Because every adjustment changes something in the chain.

New ingredients are introduced, different suppliers come into play, and processes change. That requires adjustments in production, storage, and quality control. And that’s exactly where new risks emerge. Not because things are going wrong, but because things are being done differently.
I can see companies genuinely putting in the effort. Recipes are being reformulated, labels updated, and processes redesigned. All to meet the new requirements. At the same time, the pressure on speed and costs hasn’t gone away. That’s when it becomes uncertain whether everything is truly running the way it was intended to.

But the question still lingers. Are we keeping up with the pace of all these changes? Or are we still relying a little too often on that one familiar phrase.

It’ll probably be fine.

Saskia Stender
[email protected]