Enhancing public trust in the food safety regulatory system

Objective: It is worth examining how public health agencies can enhance the public's trust in the food safety regulatory system. This paper will focus on the food safety system, which can be defined as those involved in the safe manufacture, storage, handling, display, distribution, sale or offer for sale, preparation, processing or service of food. Specifically, the paper will summarize and discuss literature relating to public expectation of public health agency action regarding protecting the food supply and recent policy reforms. Methods: A meta-interpretation was conducted to identify common themes in peer-reviewed publications and media sources. Literature searches retrieved 39 relevant articles published, resulting in 19 peer-reviewed articles, 8 media, 8 government reports, and 4 legislation documents. Results: The public expects a safe food system and they lack confidence in the current system. They desire increased scientifically transparent communication from a trusted source, a stronger public health presence, a coordinated food safety regulatory system, and increased access to inspection results. Conclusions: Public health agencies must communicate easily understood transparent, scientific information to the public. Inspection disclosure systems have been effective in increasing transparency. Public health agencies must have a strong presence in a coordinated food safety regulatory framework. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.