The responsibilities of a commercial intermediation company as a new food business: the case of a typical regional Italian food

According to Regulation (EC) 178/2002, “any undertaking, whether for profit or not and whether public or private, carrying out any of the activities related to any stage of production, processing and distribution of food” must be classified as a “food business”. A food business operator (FBO) is “the natural or legal person responsible for ensuring that the requirements of food law are met within the food business under their control”. We analyzed the case of an Italian wholesale commercial intermediation company, purchasing a typically carbohydrate-rich local product from producers and reselling it to retailers, although never physically possessing it. In the marketing process, the company misleadingly emphasized the product’s protein content, providing inaccurate nutritional information on the label, thus committing food fraud. Moreover, as required by European law, sanitary guarantees on the operating methods and traceability were not provided. To ensure food safety, every food business is subject to the obligation of registration (Regulation EC 852/2004), preparation of the self-control plan according to the principles of the HACCP system and traceability obligations (Regulation EC 178/2002). This case highlights the current general poor culture in food safety. It shows the urgent need for awareness-raising and training interventions to improve behaviors and clarify the qualifications and responsibilities of all parties involved, including FBOs and competent authorities, to prevent health risks and food fraud.