Safe Food VS Healthy Food, the debate is open

The Swiss Approval North America, International acting inspection & Certification Body, achieved accreditation by the International Accreditation Organization PERRY JOHNSON LABORATORY, based in the US, according the ISO 17065 standard, for the assessment of conformity regarding the Antioxidant activity and Bioactivity of foods, according to the AFQ certification scheme of FOODOXYS.

The Accreditation Body, Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation is a full member of the ILAC MRA – Multi Recognition Arrangement, and this Accreditation is an important passport for the establishment of AFQ as a recognized International certification scheme regarding the antioxidant activity and Bioactivity of foods, a dominant postmodern trend aimed at well-being, in the International consumer public.

The so-called “safe” food is not necessarily beneficial for the Health and Well-being of consumers.

Junk Food VS Healthy Food, is the new battle of consumer choice.

The level of antioxidants in foods, and their bioactivity, is already considered a key element in the selection of products on the shelves of Super Markets. Given that, by presumption, every product on the shelf of a Super Market is safe to consume, consumers are now demonstrating exceptional reflexivity in the selection of foods that they consider to have positive effects on their health and contribute positively to their dietary profile, and are no longer satisfied that these are simply safe to consume, without risks of contamination or that they provide them with controlled or required calories. There is a shift in consumer behavior in the consumption of foods, from “safe food” to “beneficial” for health and well-being. The perception that “safe” food, without risks of contamination, but possibly over-processed or acceptably genetically modified, is not necessarily beneficial for health, tends to become a global trend among the general consumer public. Undoubtedly, food safety is the basis. The HACCP rules, the International Standards of the ISO 22000 series for food safety, the sectoral standards of Consumer Associations and Super Markets, are all absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of food against consumption in the production chain, always with regard to the management of the risks of all kinds of contamination.

The international debate on whether “safe” food and other consumer products related to use, such as cosmetics, are beneficial for health, has now opened up at all levels of dialogue. Safe Food VS Healthy Food, if you want to put it more popularly, Junk Food VS Healthy Food, is now the favorite topic in Food Quality and Safety Forums, in which Consumers, Food Scientists, Manufacturing & Distribution Companies, Researchers, and other stakeholders in the food industry and beyond participate.

The classification of foods in this case, according to the index of “antioxidant activity” and “bioactivity”, with the code name: “AFQ” is the answer of science and technology to the increased demands of the international consumer public, to consume foods, not based on their nutritional capacity, but based on their long-term positive effects on their health and well-being.

In layman’s terms, the “AFQ” food classification system could be described as a scheme for classifying the “antioxidant action” of foods, determining a Bioactivity index of the products we consume on a daily basis, such as meat and dairy products, primary agricultural products of the land, secondary processing products, etc. As is known, the antioxidants contained in the food product reduce free radicals, which are produced as by-products in human metabolism. Therefore, the consumption of foods with a high index of “antioxidant activity”, by definition, exerts a protective effect against various pathological conditions.

The important problem of the market today is the inherent inability of consumers to know objectively – and not based on promotional advertising schemes – which foods have the highest index of “antioxidant activity” and “bioactivity”, or in any case an acceptable level of “antioxidant activity”, which in any case makes the food attractive for consumption, but mainly preventively safe.

The antioxidant profile of the product affects not only its shelf life but also the stability of the taste, as well as the protection of raw materials from oxidation, which would potentially reduce its quality and benefits.