Microbiological Risk Assessment Associated with the Food Processing and Distribution Chain
Jeanne-Marie Membre
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Microbiological Risk Assessment Associated with the Food Processing and Distribution Chain
Jeanne-Marie Membre
About This Book
According to the World Health Organization, one in every ten people worldwide falls ill from eating contaminated food every year, with 550 million cases of diarrheal diseases. Microbiological risk assessment aims to characterize the nature and probability of harm resulting from human exposure to the biological agents that are present in foodstuffs. This assessment must take into account all stages of the chain: from the production of raw materials to consumption. After briefly introducing food safety and risk assessment, this book details the four major steps of microbiological risk assessment. The contributors first present hazard identification and then exposure assessment, which is subdivided into methods for the detection and enumeration of pathogens and for the quantification of the level of exposure. Then, hazard characterization is subdivided into pathogenicity mechanisms and quantification of the doseâresponse relationship. Finally a guide for microbiological risk characterization is provided. The conclusion presents possible development avenues for microbiological risk assessment, particularly its integration into a holistic assessment of food systems.
Frequently asked questions
Information
PART 1
Hazards and Food
1
Biological Hazard Identification
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Who conducts hazard identification?
1.3. Sources of useful information for hazard identification
- â ANSESâ factsheets are available in French at https://www.anses.fr/fr/content/fiches-de-dangers-biologiques-transmissibles-par-les-aliments;
- â Canadian factsheets are available at https://www.canada.ca/fr/sante-publique/services/biosecurite-biosurete-laboratoire/fiches-techniques-sante-securite-agents-pathogenes-evaluation-risques.html.
Type of data | Description | Benefits | Drawbacks |
Literature data: epidemiological studies | Epidemiological investigations relate to studies that have been commissioned to specifically study the cause and effect relationship between the appearance of foodborne diseases and exposure to certain microbiological risks through the consumption of food. | Epidemiological studies are very specific and provide a vast amount of detailed information about the hazard and the group of consumers studied. | The data are often generated for a relatively small number of consumers and therefore are not representative of larger consumer groups. |
Literature data: prevalence and concentration data | Studies identifying the prevalence and count/concentration of target microorganisms at various stages of production/distribution and studies identifying their evolution, such as the effectiveness of a transformation procedure. | These studies are particularly useful for exposure assessment, but can also be used for hazard identification. | The diversity of detection and/or counting methods makes it difficult to compare final estimates. Internationally validated microbiological methods to facilitate this comparison should be preferred. |
Surveillance data: early warning systems | A food-safety early warning system allows national authorities to share information on measures taken in response to serious risks detected in relation to food and can thus provide useful information for hazard identification. The European RASFF system is an example of a food-safety early warning system that provides valuable information on product withd... |