Food risk governance in Ireland : regulation, communication and biosecurity

Abstract

Issues of biosecurity (commonly defined as "making life safe") are relevant to the arena of food risk governance. Certainly, the complex and varied food safety controls that exist today can be described as attempting to 'make life safe'. This includes the monitoring, enforcement and surveillance activities of food safety authorities (FSAs) worldwide - institutions of security recently established in response to continuing food crises in Europe and related low levels of public trust. Despite these significant shifts in governing arrangements, little work has been conducted regarding how stakeholders and publics respond, resist and/or engage with these new systems outside of the specific conditions created by major food scares such as BSE.