Food Reviews International, 23:35–51, 2007 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 8755-9129 print / 1525-6103 online DOI: 10.1080/87559120600998148 National Food Control Systems: A Review SHALINI A. NEELIAH AND DAYA GOBURDHUN Food Science and Technology, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius This article reviews literature on national food control systems (NFCS). The major objectives of NFCS, their main components, and current issues relating to NFCS are discussed. Common problem areas and the actions taken by countries to improve their system are analysed. The review shows that elements of NFCS suffer from certain limitations, such as obsolete food laws, duplication of work, lack of resources, and poor organisation, which make the system ineffective. NFCS have been established to various extents in both developed and developing countries; however, most countries have not used management techniques in developing and implementing their food control programme. Since NFCS face a number of challenges, it is important for both developed and developing countries to strengthen their food control systems to meet these challenges. Keywords Food control system, Food legislation, Enforcement Introduction Food is a basic need: it is government’s responsibility to ensure that this need is met. (1) Food-borne disease statistics worldwide, point to the fact that food of poor quality can have fatal and financial repercussions in both developing and developed countries. According to World Health figures, in Peru, in 1991, re-emergence of cholera caused loss of US$ 700 million in fish and fishery products exports that year, while in the USA, there were an estimated 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses in 1999. (2) The hazards associated with foods prompt governments to intervene in the food chain by the establishment of national food control systems. Because of rapid developments in transport and in food science and technology, international food trade is now a big business of more than US$ 540 billion (3) and is expected to further expand. Nations are now bound by obligations under the new global food trade regime to strengthen their food control system, and to implement and enforce risk-based food control strategies. (4) Food exporters must ensure that their food supply is safe so as not to lose the trust of purchasers. Importers must protect themselves against dumping of inferior food that is either of poor nutritive quality or grossly contaminated and adulterated. At a national level, traders with fraudulent practices must be removed from norm-abiding traders. It is thus interesting to study NFCS because of their growing importance. The objective of this article, therefore, was to study NFCS in terms of their major objectives, main components, and current issues in order to identify common problem areas and the actions taken by countries to improve their system. Address correspondence to Daya Goburdhun, Food Science and Technology, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius. E-mail: daya@uom.ac.mu 35