The statutory role of the Public Analyst’s Laboratory is to test food for compliance with the relevant legislation and guidelines. The laboratory has a vital role in food safety by providing objective scientific evidence for the safety and quality of the food that we eat. It provides data for the proper risk assessment and risk analysis of food.
The Dublin Public Analyst’s Laboratory (PALD) is administered by the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster. It is one of the laboratories of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Food Safety Laboratory Service (FSLS) which comprises three Public Analyst Laboratories and seven Official Food Microbiology Laboratories, one of which is located at and is an integral part of PALD.
The beginning of 2006 marked a significant milestone for food safety in the EU with the entry of a large updated body of food and feed legislation. Primary amongst these is the food hygiene package. Regulation 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs also came into force at the beginning of 2006.
EU Regulation 178/2002 lays down the general principles and requirements of food law and procedures in matters of food safety. It also established the European Food Safety Authority.
The European Commission package of food hygiene law harmonises and simplifies previously overly complex hygiene requirements. The package consists of five major pieces of legislation covering areas including the hygiene of foodstuffs and specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin. "EU Regulation 882/2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules" describes in detail how the principles in Regulation 178/2002 must be interpreted and implemented. From the 1st January 2006 Regulation 882/2004 repealed a number of previous Food Control Acts.
Regulation 882/2004 is currently under revision by the European Commission.
Last updated 21/07/2017
