FOOD LEGISLATION

Food Legislation is an effective way to protect public health

Food Legislation is an effective way to protect public health

Define the meaning of public health

What is public health? This question has no easy answer. Various definitions have been proposed to try to clarify this notion. One of the leading innovators in the conceptual development of public health was Winslow CE. According to Winslow, public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, promoting health and physical and mental efficiency through organized efforts of the community to:

Environmental sanitation,

control of communicable diseases,

Health education,

The organization of medical and nursing services, and

The development of social mechanisms that ensure the individual and community standard of living adequate for health maintenance.

Perhaps more important than defining public health is to identify what it is. In this sense, it seems that the public health mission is to fulfill society's interest in ensuring the conditions that allow people to be healthy. The three fundamental missions of public health as defined by the INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE were associated with 10 key practices to be provided by public health were identified and cataloged by a working group established by the Public Health Practice Program Office, CDC. These definitions provide a structural framework that defines public health activities:

Assess and Monitor Health

The aim is to determine the health of communities and populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities. To this we must proceed with the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of information on the health of populations. The public health services should be provided to meet this mission are:

Assessing the health needs of the population.

Investigation of the emergence of problems and risks to health.

Analysis of the determinants of health hazards identified.

Develop programs and public policies, in collaboration with the community and authorities must develop plans and programs to solve health problems and priorities identified at all levels, local, regional and national levels.

We must exercise responsibility to serve the public interest by developing a comprehensive set of public health policies, promoting the use of scientific knowledge for decision making, encouraging community involvement and evaluating results.

The public health services in this area are:

Adoption of a role as mediator and spokesman.

Prioritization of identified needs.

Develop programs and plans to meet those needs.

Services ensure that all people have access to services that are appropriate and cost-effective services, including health promotion and disease prevention, evaluating the effectiveness of such interventions, ensuring the implementation of the services necessary to achieve the objectives set for responding to the needs expressed by encouraging actions to develop regulations which are in place or providing services directly. This would:

Managing resources and developing an organizational structure.

Setting up the program.

Evaluating programs and establishes quality assurance systems and quality improvement.

Informing and educating the population.

Main food legislation in the UK

The general food law applies to everyone. It applies both to the owner of a food chain as well as the ...