In recent years, food safety hazard notifications concerning seafood originating from EU countries have accounted for the majority of notifications recorded through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), according to an analysis of RASFF activity from 1996–2020. In their article, the researchers explain that this is a concern because the free movement of goods is allowed within the EU, which, along with the growth of intra-EU seafood trade, further increases the possibility of the spread of hazards.
RASFF is the EU’s platform for exchanging information between Member States to support swift action by food safety authorities in the case of risks to public health. The recent study analyzed RASFF notifications involving seafood for the years of 1996–2020, taking into account hazard, year, product, notifying country, country of origin, notification type, notification basis, distribution status, and action taken.