Food Safety Risk Analysis: A Global Issue

In the past, control of human health hazards in fresh food of animal origin has generally depended on traditional principles of hygiene, with few attempts to draw quantitative associations between hygiene activities and their outcomes in terms of human health. However, “modernization” of food hygiene programs for fresh foods of animal origin is now a commercial and regulatory goal in a number of countries. The wider recognition of the high level of complexity of food safety issues and increasing demands from consumers for higher levels of protection from microbiological and chemical hazards are forcing industry and national regulatory authorities to adopt a more scientific and risk-based approach to food hygiene. The development of inspection and hygiene systems that are both efficient and cost-effective is a parallel goal. Inherent to the “modernization” of food safety programs is the qualitative recognition that unseen microbiological hazards constitute by far the greatest threat to human health. Primarily in response to this threat, the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System (HACCP) is rapidly becoming the cornerstone for design and implementation of modern process control systems for microbiological food safety. Risk analysis is an integral part of the design of a HACCP system for any class of hazard, and the complex association between a reduction in the level of hazards in food during a particular segment of food production or processing, and a reduction in risk for consumers, is a primary consideration (Hathaway 1995). Guidance is also needed for the evaluation of alternate food safety practices or interventions in a HACCP system that meet the intended food safety outcome; whether it be on a site-specific, national or international basis. Modernization of food hygiene programs has implications far beyond national boundaries. In an emerging international trading environment regulated more according to food safety requirements than non-tariff trade protection