Food Legislation is an effective way to protect Public Health Discuss Essay

Food Legislation is an effective way to protect Public Health Discuss - Essay Example The growing scope of public health issues and the role of food quality and safety for public wellbeing place additional burden of legal, social, and legal responsibility on food manufacturers and suppliers. Simultaneously, greater reliance on self-regulatory mechanisms illustrates a rapid change in public attitudes toward risk management in the food industry. Today, businesses carry greater responsibility for meeting the broad demands for food quality and public health protection, especially in food poisoning/ hygiene. Enforced self-regulation in food hygiene regulations has significant advantages and serious drawbacks, but gives a hope that UK food manufacturers can zero the risks of food poisoning and its risks for public health. This paper discusses the current state of food hygiene legislation in the UK in the context of food poisoning, its philosophy and relevance in the present day business environment. The main thesis of the paper is that philosophy of enforced self-regulation is a reliable measure of public health protection, which can potentially reduce the risks of food poisoning but requires efficient mechanisms of enforcement and regulatory compliance. Public health: a multitude of meanings Public health is rightly considered as an essential factor of social stability and wellbeing. Protection of public health remains one of the top social priorities in the developed world. The relevance and significance of public health issues are difficult to underestimate, but the meaning of public health itself is extremely difficult to define (Parmet 2009). Parmet (2009) uses a definition from the Oxford English Dictionary, which suggests that public health is â€Å"the health of the population as a whole, especially as monitored, regulate, and promoted by the state† (p.7). However, the Oxford English Dictionary is not a measure of last resort in defining the scope and underlying meanings of public health. For example, the Institute of Medicine defines p ublic health as a complex set of collective measures, to which societies apply, to ensure that their people are healthy (Parmet 2009). However, all these definitions consistently emphasize the importance and dominance of the word â€Å"public†, whereas the meaning and philosophy of â€Å"health† remains beyond professional attention. Defining the term â€Å"public health† is impossible without trying to define the word â€Å"health† in it. The meanings and definitions of health are numerous and varied. The Oxford English Dictionary treats health as soundness of body and its functions, meaning that the notion of health is both individually and socially constructed (Parmet 2009). Simply stated, a person with sound body and sound functions does not carry any dangerous implications for public health. The World Health Organization goes further and defines health as the state of absolute mental, physical, and social well-being (Parmet 2009). In this sense, WHO also implies that health is not limited to normal physiological functioning but necessitates social stability and normal social conditions of life (Parmet 2009). As a result, public health can be defined as a complex set of collective measures, aimed at maintaining normal mental, physical, and social functioning in society. In this context, food legislation is one of the vital preconditions for developing and maintaining sound systems of public health. The current state of food legislation in the UK and the recent changes in its philosophy have proved to be an effective measure of social and health stability in the British society. The