**4. Public Policy: Regulations, Laws, Opinions and Guidelines**

The General Food Law Regulation in the European Union (EC No. 178/2002) establishes the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and lays down procedures in matters of food safety, including later the principle of risk analysis.

Access to sufficient and safe food is a basic requirement for human health. In the past decades, the increased complexity of the food supply chain has contributed to the global emergence of food safety incidents. Indeed, over the past decades, a series of food safety incidents (e.g., BSE- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in the 90's) have shown serious shortcomings in legal systems worldwide (e.g., law enforcement, lack of appropriate response mechanisms, control systems) [27].

*Foods* **2017**, *6*, 65

It was the lack of risk communication and risk management (comprehensive/integrated approach) that brought the weaknesses of the legal food system to light and provided a new approach to food safety emerged (Figure 1) [28,29]. 

**Figure 1.** Integration of risk evaluation, communication and management by the EFSA.

In addition to legislation, producers of traditional fermented food and beverages are also being increasingly obliged to meet various legislative requirements. These may take various forms including taxes and "certification of origin".

The challenges of implementing measures to safeguard safety and quality in the real world are numerous. There is a notable role for ongoing training and education of all those involved as to the importance of quality and standards not only for successful trade, but also in terms of social responsibility [30].

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published (September 2010) the 75FR50268, "*Draft Guidance for Industry: Acidified Foods*", which provided recommendations on manufacturing, storage, packaging, distribution processes, and appropriate quality control procedures for acid foods, acidified foods, and fermented foods. However, in December 2015 (80FR81550), they withdrew partially the draft guidance because many of the topics addressed are presently being dealt with in other documents. The FDA does not regulate fermented foods since they have not found any cases of food illnesses [31]. A comparison of key elements between EU and the USA is given below (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Comparison key elements of the EU–US food regulatory systems.

EFSA, European Food Safety Agency; GMO, Genetic Modified Organisms.
