There has been an exchange of food and culture from 1500 onwards, not only within cultural zones but across vast distances from Africa to the Americas, from the Americas to Europe, from Europe to Asia, from Asia to Africa and the Americas.

At SQF Code we believe that understanding how the exchange of food culture has developed over the centuries is important in how we develop systems to provide safe quality food in the future. The topic of food encompasses a wide range of aspects for research, from the production and distribution of foodstuffs to the cultural contexts within which food is prepared, presented and consumed.

Until recently, ASEAN Member States (AMS) have concentrated on achieving food security, by
increasing food availability and access over consideration of food safety. In current times though, public attention to and demand for safe quality food has grown, in response to a
heightened awareness of the prevalence of foodborne diseases across the region. Although
all countries around the world have similar concerns about the safety of their food,
Southeast Asia is subject to higher food safety risks due to climate, diets, income levels and
public infrastructure.

Lack of focus on food safety also has implications on trade development. Food safety is a
moving target – a food safety event in one country can quickly spread to a geocutural zone –
and plays a crucial role for importing countries. Compliance with food safety standards is therefore seen as a general prerequisite for market membership. Some ASEAN countries
have already put stricter measures in place to maintain the safety of their food, such as
Thailand, and have become big producers and exporters of agricultural produce
worldwide. CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) countries have similar
possibilities, but without a solid food safety control system, the choices for export to
profitable markets outside (Europe, USA and Japan) as well as inside the region remain
limited. The latter is specifically relevant today as the region has been moving towards the
creation of a single economic community since 2015, and where economic differences between
the CLMV countries and the other AMSs remain.

See below how the sharedtaste.nl old homepage looked before.

You can find an Overview of all Asia events at Leiden University here.