The Internet and the Human Right to Food: The European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed

Abstract

This article examines the way in which the development of information technology has enhanced the protection of the human right to adequate food—in a European context. The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed enhances the level of protection offered to consumers in the context of an area of resource-intensive delivery of economic and social rights. The discussion explores the convergence of rights development—the European and global move towards a 'precautionary' entitlement to safe food—and the exploitation of technology as an effective means of disseminating crucial information as a way of guaranteeing such a right. In contrast to the sinister tone of much of the discourse relating to information technology and human rights protection, the conclusions of this study sound a more optimistic note for the objectives of the latter.