Contesting competence—Change in the Danish food safety system

This paper presents the rationalisation and centralisation in the last decade in the Danish food safety system and illustrates some of the frustration it raised among market actors. The article argues that, even if the reforms did not change formal division of responsibilities for securing food safety, the implementation of new principles in the food safety control procedure in the form of HACCP and the publication of results from public food inspection visits (The Danish Smiley System) have altered the roles and responsibilities of market actors and public actors at a practical level. In this way the reform raises new questions about the efficiency of the food safety control system.