Network analysis for food safety: Quantitative and structural study of data gathered through the RASFF system in the European Union

This paper reports a quantitative and structural analysis of data gathered on the food issues reported by the European Union members over the last forty years. The study applies statistical measures and network analysis techniques. For this purpose, a graph was constructed of how different contaminated products have been distributed through countries. The work aims to leverage insights into the structure formed by the involvement of European countries in the exchange of goods that can cause problems for populations. The results obtained show the roles of different countries in the detection of sensitive routes. In particular, the analysis identifies prob-lematic origin countries, such as China or Turkey, whereas European countries, in general, do have good border control policies for the import/export of food.

Automated summary

This paper presents a quantitative and structural analysis of data on food issues reported by European Union members over the past forty years. The study utilizes statistical measures and network analysis techniques to examine the distribution of contaminated products across countries. The results highlight the different roles played by various countries in detecting problematic origins, such as China or Turkey, while emphasizing the generally good border control policies of European countries in food import/export.