Microbiological Risk Assessment In Food Processing

Microbiological risk assessment (MRA) is one of the most important recent developments in food safety management. Adopted by Codex Alimentarius and many other international bodies, it provides a structured way of identifying and assessing microbiological risks in food. Edited by two leading authorities, and with contributions by international experts in the field, Microbiological risk assessment provides a detailed coverage of the key steps in MRA and how it can be used to improve food safety. The book begins by placing MRA within the broader context of the evolution of international food safety standards. Part one introduces the key steps in MRA methodology. A series of chapters discusses each step, starting with hazard identification and characterisation before going on to consider exposure assessment and risk characterisation. Given its importance, risk communication is also covered. Part two then considers how MRA can be implemented in practice. There are chapters on implementing the results of a microbiological risk assessment and on the qualitative and quantitative tools available in carrying out a MRA. It also discusses the relationship of MRA to the use of microbiological criteria and another key tool in food safety management, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems. With its authoritative coverage of both principles and key issues in implementation, Microbiological risk assessment in food processing is a standard work on one of the most important aspects of food safety management. Provides a detailed coverage of the key steps in microbiological risk assessment (MRA) and how it can be used to improve food safety Places MRA within the broader context of the evolution of international food safety standards Introduces the key steps in MRA methodology, considers exposure assessment and risk characterisation, and covers risk communication

The guidelines aim to provide a practical framework and approach for undertaking exposure assessment of microbiological hazards (bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa and microbial toxins) in foods in the context of a risk assessment or as a stand-alone process.

The Microbiological Risk Assessment of Food follows on from the author's successful book The Microbiology of Safe Food and provides a detailed analysis of the subject area including cutting-edge information on: foodborne pathogens in world trade; food safety, control and HACCP; risk analysis; the application of microbiological risk assessment (MRA) and likely future developments in the techniques and applications of MRA. This important book focuses on what is an acceptable level of risk to consumers associated with eating food, on a daily basis, which does contain bacteria. An extremely important addition to the available literature, providing a thorough synthesis that will be an essential purchase for all those involved with issues relating to safe food. Copies of the book should be available to practitioners in food companies and academia, including food microbiologists, food scientists and technologists, to consultants and to all those studying or teaching food microbiology. Personnel in government regulatory and public and environmental health capacities will find much of use within the covers of this book. Copies of the book should also be available in the libraries of all research establishments and university departments where food science, food technology and microbiology are studied and taught. Stephen J. Forsythe is Reader in Microbiology at the Department of Life Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, UK. Cover Photograph: Lactobacillus case Shirota by kind permission and courtesy of Yakult UK Ltd.

The chilling and freezing of meat remains an essential way of extending shelf-life and maintaining quality. Based on the work of the internationally-renowned Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Centre (FRPERC), Meat refrigeration provides an authoritative guide both to the impact of refrigeration on meat and best practice in using it to maximise meat quality for the consumer. Part one considers the impact of refrigeration on meat quality. There are chapters on the microbiology of refrigerated meat and its influence on shelf-life, drip production, weight loss and the effect of refrigeration on colour and texture. Part two looks at best practice in managing the cold chain from carcass to consumer. The authors discuss primary chilling, freezing, thawing and tempering, transport, storage, retail display and consumer handing. Part three of the book looks at aspects of process control, including chapters on such issues as temperature measurement, the design and optimal use of refrigeration systems. Both authoritative and practical, Meat refrigeration is a standard work for all those wishing to maximise the quality of refrigerated meat. The standard work on meat refrigerationCovers both individual quality issues and the management of the cold chain from carcass to consumer.

Contains information that is useful to both risk assessors and risk managers, including international scientific committees, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, governments, and food regulatory agencies, scientists, food producers and industries and other people or institutions with an interest in microbiological hazards in foods, their impact on public health and food trade and their control.

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

It is in the risk characterization step that the results of the risk assessment are presented.

This book focuses on the food safety challenges in the vegetable industry from primary production to consumption. It describes existing and innovative quantitative methods that could be applied to the vegetable industry for food safety and quality, and suggests ways in which such methods can be applied for risk assessment. Examples of application of food safety objectives and other risk metrics for microbial risk management in the vegetable industry are presented. The work also introduces readers to new preservation and packaging methods, advanced oxidative processes (AOPs) for disinfection, product shelf-life determination methods, and rapid analytic methods for quality assessment based on chemometrics applications, thus providing a quantitative basis for the most important aspects concerning safety and quality in the vegetable sector.