A good reputation involves great value and opportunities for further value creation. In order to be able to further increase value creation in the value chain of Icelandic food, it is essential that the safety of production can be demonstrated, taking into account laws, regulations and market requirements.
Following various incidents (food scandals / outbreaks) recently. This year, the importance of food safety in food marketing has increased even more and is today a key factor in securing export earnings. There are various examples of negative media coverage and the internet having in a short time destroyed the positive image of food production that has taken decades to build. Short response times are key to food security threats.
In order to be able to defend Icelandic business interests in this context, it is necessary that the country has the necessary expertise and facilities for research in this country. It is also crucial that there is accessible data on the status of Icelandic food with regard to safety, health and traceability. Without this, there is a significant chance that measures will be ineffective, export interests will be harmed and the public and our customers abroad will lose confidence that the government and companies will be able to ensure the safety of Icelandic food production.
But what does this mean for us Icelanders? For example, for our largest export industry; the Icelandic fishing industry? Aren't things fine with us? Fortunately, problems that can be directly linked to the Icelandic fishing industry have been rare in recent years. If you look at the story, however, there are many examples. Emphasis on quality management, catch cooling and good research and monitoring work, which has, for example, shown that the amount of heavy metals in seafood off the coast of Iceland is negligible in most cases is one of the factors that has built up a good reputation of Icelandic seafood. But if we look to the future - and indeed to the present - it is clear that we need to be vigilant about reputational risk.
In recent years, drainage issues have been somewhat discussed in the media, and one such issue received extensive coverage in the recent New Year's acquisition of state television. Today, a small part of the sewage is treated, but some effort has been made to provide sewage further from land, so that coastal areas are free of sewage pollution. It is fairly certain that the environment around the sewage outlet is more or less polluted by faecal bacteria and not least Noroviruses, which are considered to be a very common cause of intestinal infections and among other things are responsible for about 20 million infections each year in the United States alone.
Most health control areas in the country have regular monitoring of pollution due to sewage pollution in the sea, where samples are taken regularly about 10-100m from land and measured for the faecal bacteria E.coli and Enterococcus. The results of these measurements do not indicate that these microorganisms are a problem off the coast of Iceland, as is the case in various important areas for aquaculture, such as the Mekong River in Vietnam.
On the other hand, no results are available for noroviruses in sewage or fishing grounds. Recent studies on shellfish in Europe have shown dangerous contamination by norovirus, despite the fact that monitoring by competent authorities has not shown contamination by faecal bacteria. Due to the prevalence of norovirus infections and the resistance of noroviruses to harsh environments, this should not really come as a surprise. As a result, it can probably be expected that a more detailed limit will be set for the classification of shellfish fishing areas, as both E.coli and norovirus pollution will be taken into account.
Despite this, noroviruses have in fact been a relatively limited risk for most Icelandic seafood products - so far. When the utilization of slog is increasing, as has been the case lately. years - we need to pay special attention to the risks posed by noroviruses. This is especially true in cases where heat treatment of the slag is limited, as will always be the case if one intends to develop products with bioactivity, for example in use in cosmetic and or medical products. In my opinion, it is very important here that people work especially hard and use the best knowledge for development and production.
There would be a great risk that the reputation of Icelandic seafood would suffer a serious blow if a group infection caused by norovirus were traced to Icelandic seafood products. This could be a bigger crisis than we have known before.
Global crises have changed - and will continue to change - the world's food security environment. The bean sprout case cost 53 lives and over 3900 became infected in connection with the consumption of… ..yes on what? At first it was thought that Spanish vegetable producers had the main responsibility, but in the end the case was traced to bean sprouts that entered the European market from Egypt. One of those who stood to say the least in the line of fire in the bean sprout case was a professor, dr. dr. Andreas Henzel, President of BfR, one of the world's most respected organizations in the field of food risk assessment. Sami Andreas Henzel is now leading a large group of German experts who will assist Matís and MAST in the Safe Food project, which will include the installation and accreditation of new equipment that will enable us to measure algae toxins in shellfish and fulfill those obligations. which Iceland has acceded to under the EEA Agreement.
The most well-known crisis in food production last year is probably the "Big Horse Meat Issue", which shook the European food market to say the least this winter. Magnús Bjarnason at Icelandic Group mentioned the horsemeat issue in a special speech at the last LÍÚ general meeting. autumn, no wonder. The issue has really changed Europe's food markets. As most people know, the issue of horsemeat was basically that unscrupulous food producers had replaced beef with a much cheaper raw material - horsemeat - and thus actually engaged in product fraud. Apparently, consumer anger was high - which was partly reflected in the fact that they turned from beef - or horse consumption - to seafood. Death has always been another's bread.
Genetics and the use of genetic methods to identify the differences between beef and horsemeat proved to be the key to the emergence of fraud, but fraud in the beef value chain was undeniably aimed at targeting other value chains in food production. This was followed by various discoveries, such as rats instead of lamb in China - and one fish species instead of another in many parts of the world.
And then we're really into counterfeiting - they are not necessarily dangerous to human health - like the noroviruses, but counterfeiting carries a great deal of reputational risk, not least now in the age of rapid media coverage and the dissemination of information on the internet. It is also important to keep in mind the changes that food markets are currently undergoing, both in terms of market areas and production, where emerging market countries play a key role.
There is nothing new about people not being completely honest when it comes to identifying fish species. But after the horsemeat scandal, the risks involved need to be made clear. Matís proved to be a difficult task to finance the purchase of equipment that enables us to fulfill Iceland's obligations under the EEA Agreement, and this did not succeed until the current Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture took up the matter, as he was well aware of the Icelandic food industry's export interests. On the other hand, various food producers are better equipped than public limited companies in Iceland. Mike Mitchell, of Youngs Seafood, told the World Seafood Congress this fall that the company had used genetic engineering to analyze whether suppliers were selling them other fish species than they were giving up. My mind tells me that Youngs is not the only one who has done that.
Such investments by food producers are not a coincidence. In this context, Tilapiu has often been cited as an example of cheap whitefish that can in fact take on almost any role when it comes to the production of seafood. Tilapíun has thus been compared to Meryl Streep, who is undeniably a very versatile actress who can handle various roles. The big difference, however, is that when Meryl Streep plays in a movie, she appears on the list of actors. This has not always been the case with Tilapiu, or other cheaper fish species that have found their way under recipes under "pseudonyms".
Such "pseudonyms" are dishonest practices and counterfeits towards buyers. Counterfeits that create an unequal competitive environment for honest producers and promote consumer disbelief. I would therefore like to repeat my words that it is very important that the Icelandic fisheries sector is able to show buyers that production here is in accordance with laws, regulations and market requirements. In this way, we will build a foundation for further value creation in the fisheries knowledge industry.
Recently, the most beautiful Icelandic word was chosen. I do not intend to elaborate on the results of the election here, but I would like to quote the words of Friðleif Friðleifsson at Iceland Seafood, who said at the last LÍÚ general meeting. autumn something to the effect that the word DELIVERY SECURITY was one of the most beautiful words in the Icelandic language in his opinion. I agree with Friðleifur in many ways, but I would like to point out another good Icelandic word that is very important for value creation in the Icelandic fisheries sector. It's become PROBLEMS.
In Hávamál Snorri Edda says that celebrities never die, if people have a good word for themselves. Hopefully that is right, because Icelandic foods have a good reputation and reputation to protect. However, we need to keep in mind that the internet, along with various other things, has changed the dissemination of information in a dramatic way lately. years, i.e. it is not certain that Snorri is quite right, although many good tips can certainly be found in Hávamál.
Sveinn Margeirsson, CEO of Matís.