Monitoring the safety of the food chain: the Food Chain Surveillance Platform (SCA)

The Food Chain Surveillance Platform (Plateforme de Surveillance de la Chaîne Alimentaire – SCA) provides the relevant government departments and, at their request, other bodies responsible for surveillance systems, with methodological and operational support for the design, deployment, coordination, promotion and assessment of health surveillance systems.

A multi-partner platform

The SCA Platform is implemented by the French Food Directorate (DGAl), INRAE and the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Anses), in partnership with the French General Directorate for Health (DGS), the French General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) and Santé publique France, the Association de coordination technique agricole ACTA and the Association de coordination technique pour l’industrie agroalimentaire ACTIA, the Association française des directeurs et cadres de laboratoires vétérinaires publics d’analyses ADILVA, the Coopération agricole, the Association nationale des industries agroalimentaires ANIA, the Confédération générale de l’alimentation en détail CGAD, the Fédération du commerce et de la distribution FCD and Oqualim, the association pour animal nutrition.

The ESA platform is part of a group of 3 platforms alongside the animal health (ESA) and plant health (ESV) epidemiosurveillance platforms.

INRAE’s role in the SCA Platform

INRAE provides support for the coordination of the platform and is involved in the work dedicated to the monitoring of chemical hazards through steering and leading working groups, as well as through the expertise provided by its researchers.

INRAE’s role is also to promote the French innovation represented by the SCA Platform and to facilitate its coordination with other initiatives that may emerge at national and international level in the field of food safety.

Mutual availability of data

The SCA Platform uses data transmitted by players in the food chain covering biological, chemical and physical hazards in order to produce useful indicators for managers to optimise their surveillance.

The collaboration between the DGAL, Anses and INRAE includes the sharing of certain data required for the Platform’s work, while respecting the anonymity of outgoing data and the regulations in force.

This data sharing should enable INRAE to improve its knowledge of food systems and their impact on health.