Food Safety Risk Management Evidence Informed Policies And Decisions Considering Multiple Factors

These FAO guidance materials were developed to support food safety risk managers and policy-makers in applying structured, evidence-informed processes to decision making. Food safety issues can have widespread impacts beyond public health. They may contribute to, or detract from the achievement of goals in areas including nutrition, food security, food trade and market access, economic and rural development. The risk analysis paradigm guides risk managers to ensure their decisions are based on an assessment of risks to health, and consideration of other factors in choosing the preferred risk management decision. The materials assist decision-makers in applying a multi-factor approach and is applied to two key decision areas – setting food safety priorities, and selecting risk management options. The principles and approaches can be applied to all food safety decisions. Case studies are included as examples of how to apply this decision-making process. Using this guidance will lead to improved food safety decisions, where decision-makers can demonstrate how evidence was used and any trade-offs made. It also facilitates stakeholder engagement, transparency and accountability throughout the decision-making process.

The objective of this guidance is to provide direction to decision-makers on how to start ranking the public health risk posed by foodborne hazards and/or foods in their countries. The primary focus is microbial and chemical hazards in foods, but the overall approach could be used for any hazard. This guidance was developed with a wide audience in mind, including but not limited to microbiologists, toxicologists, chemists, environmental health scientists, public health epidemiologists, risk analysts, risk managers, and policy makers. Political will and a strong commitment to modernize food safety are key to the successful development and implementation of any risk ranking effort at the country level.

Setting nutrition guidelines and standards has been recommended internationally to ensure that school meals are in line with children’s nutrition needs and adequate to their context. This report provides a descriptive overview of the situation of school meal nutrition guidelines and standards in 33 low and middle-income countries as reported through a global survey. The report identifies key aspects to consider for stakeholders who are planning to develop or update their guidelines and standards in the context of school meal programmes.

Risk assessment has been extensively developed in several scientific fields, such as environmental science, economics, and civil engineering, among others. In the aftermath of the SPS and GATT agreements on the use of risk analysis framework in food trade, signed in the 1990s, international organisations and governments adopted risk assessment as a science-based process to ensure food safety along the food chain. The food industry can also benefit from the use of this approach for food process optimisation and quality assurance. Risk Assessment Methods for Biological and Chemical Hazards in Food introduces the reader to quantitative risk assessment methods encompassing general concepts to specific applications to biological and chemical hazards in foods. In the first section, the book presents food risk assessment as methodology and addresses, more specifically, new trends and approaches such as the development of risk rating methods, risk metrics, risk-benefit assessment studies and quality assessment methods. Section II is dedicated to biological hazards. This section identifies the most relevant biological hazards along the food chain and provides an overview on the types of predictive microbiology models used to describe the microbial response along the food chain. Chapter 12 specifically deals with cross contamination and the quantitative methods that can be applied to describe this relevant microbial process. The development and application of dose-response models (i.e. mathematical function describing the relationship between pathogen dose and health response) are also covered in this section. In Section III, the book translates risk assessment concepts into the area of chemical hazards, defining the process steps to determine chemical risk and describing the uncertainty and variability sources associated with chemicals. Key Features: Presents new trends and approaches in the field of risk assessment in foods Risk assessment concepts are illustrated by practical examples in the food sector Discusses how quantitative information and models are integrated in a quantitative risk asssment framework Provides examples of applications of quantitative chemical risk assessment in risk management The book, written by renowned experts in their field, is a comprehensive collection of quantitative methods and approaches applied to risk assessment in foods. It can be used as an extensive guide for food safety practitioners and researchers to perform quantitative risk assessment in foods

Lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) and ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) are used to prevent and treat malnutrition in children. [Author] They are often produced in regions experiencing food insecurity and include edible oils obtained from oleaginous seeds or fruits that must be refined to remove undesirable substances and ensure adequate shelf-life for the product. [Author] However, the formation of the heat-induced contaminants 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) fatty acid esters and glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs) may occur during the refining process of edible oils. [Author] 3-MCPD and its fatty acid esters are present in many other foodstuffs and most of the total lifetime exposure is attributed to foods other than LNS/RUTF. [Author] While the only Codex standard developed for 3-MCPD is for liquid condiments containing acid hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, no Codex standards are available for GEs. [Author] This publication provides an overview of risk assessments for 3-MCPD and GEs previously performed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other authorities, based on chronic exposure. [Author] The use of LNS/RUTF is intended to be of finite duration and confined to a specific life stage. [Author] The aim of this report was to provide an assessment to characterize the risk of less-than-lifetime exposure to 3-MCPD (including 3-MCPD fatty acid esters) and GEs via LNS/RUTF in the context of limited food availability. [Author] The thresholds identified herein for concentrations of 3-MCPD and glycidol equivalents in LNS/RUTF products are considered to represent a level of exposure that is of low concern for human health. [Author]

This document provides guidance on undertaking risk assessment of all microbial hazards which may adversely affect human health in foods along a food chain. This document is also intended to provide practical guidance on a structured framework for carrying out risk assessment of microbiological hazards in foods, focussing on the four components including hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment and risk characterization. These guidelines therefore represent the best practice at the time of their preparation, and it is hoped that they will help stimulate further developments and disseminate the current knowledge.

The Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) requested scientific advice as to whether certain foods and ingredients, such as highly refined foods and ingredients, that are derived from the list of foods known to cause hypersensitivity can be exempted from mandatory declaration. The objective of this fourth meeting was to expand on the recommendations from the first meeting concerning derivatives of food allergens and establish a framework for evaluating exemptions for food allergens. A pro forma process has been developed and tested against allergen derivatives previously granted exemptions in various countries or regions and found to be effective for consideration in future exemption decisions. The Expert Committee recommends that the process outlined in the pro forma process be used to guide any future development and evaluation of derivative exemptions. Establishment of safety based upon this weight of evidence approach is dependent upon consideration of data quality, outcome of the exposure assessment for all intended ingredient uses (specified for exemption) and review by competent authorities (as needed). When safety is established, exemption can be justified.