Commentary: How concerned should Singapore be about food safety lapses abroad?

A vegetable may pass from farm to collector, packing house, wholesaler, transporter, exporter, importer and retailer before reaching our kitchens. At every stage of the supply chain, something can go wrong.

The risks include bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli, viruses and parasites, pesticide residues, undeclared allergens, toxins and deliberate adulteration. The World Health Organization estimates that annually, around 866 million people worldwide become ill from contaminated food, with about 1.52 million deaths.

Even countries with sophisticated food-control systems are not exempt. In the United States this year, authorities have investigated E. coli associated with frozen blueberries and raw cheddar cheese, salmonella associated with eggs and jalapeno peppers, and cyclospora associated with iceberg lettuce.

Food safety failures are therefore not simply a problem of poorer countries or weak regulatory systems. They are an unavoidable risk of modern food systems. This is an important underpinning principle.