Food control is the mandatory regulatory and enforcement activity by which authorities ensure that food is safe, wholesome, and accurately represented throughout production, processing, distribution, and sale. It encompasses food law and standards, inspection of premises and processes, sampling and laboratory analys…
Food control is the mandatory regulatory and enforcement activity by which authorities ensure that food is safe, wholesome, and accurately represented throughout production, processing, distribution, and sale. It encompasses food law and standards, inspection of premises and processes, sampling and laboratory analysis, hazard surveillance, certification, and enforcement actions, and it operates alongside food safety management systems such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. The objective is to protect consumers from biological, chemical, and physical hazards, to prevent foodborne illness, and to guard against adulteration, mislabeling, and fraud. Effective food control systems rest on coherent legislation, competent inspection and enforcement bodies, accredited analytical laboratories, and mechanisms for traceability and risk communication. Contemporary practice increasingly applies analytical techniques such as chromatography and mass spectrometry to detect contaminants, residues, and authenticity markers, and integrates risk-based prioritization to allocate inspection effort. Food control also addresses the management of zoonotic and animal-derived hazards at the interface of veterinary and public health. The field draws on food science, microbiology, toxicology, analytical chemistry, and regulatory policy to maintain confidence in the food supply, support fair trade, and reduce the public-health and economic burden of unsafe or fraudulent food.
7 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 7 articles above have been cited 31 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Food Control, linking to each citing work.