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Food Focus May 2006

The four-step process

The risk management framework is the tool used to help NZFSA in its key aim of lowering the incidence of foodborne illness and ensuring the safety and suitability of all food sold in New Zealand. It underpins every area of work and research within the organisation. The principles of the risk management framework were originally developed for food safety by NZFSA’s Science Director Dr Steve Hathaway. The plan was subsequently adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and is now used internationally to identify, develop and implement appropriate food safety controls.

“We’re highly regarded in terms of our risk management expertise and the way we conduct our programme: it’s world class,” says Dr McKenzie.

The framework is a four-step procedure which involves:

• evaluating the food safety issue when it arises and putting the science together to determine the level of risk

• assessing the options available to manage the risks to human health and selecting the most appropriate food controls

• putting the most effective and efficient controls into practice

• monitoring and reviewing the human health and other outcomes such as the level of the hazard remaining in the food chain, to see if the controls that have been put in place have worked as expected.

Step One involves preliminary risk management activities which include identifying a specific food safety problem, whether it’s chemical or microbiological, and looking at the need for a food safety standard, sanitary measure or policy that could achieve particular food safety goals.

Implementing decisions

At this stage information-gathering exercises, such as risk profiles, are carried out to place the issue within a particular food safety context, and quantitative and qualitative risk assessments may be undertaken to find out more about the risk.

Step Two involves assessing the management options available to control the risks and deciding on the level of consumer protection that can be provided. In some cases controls will be regulated whereas in others the best control measure may be non-regulated. For example, a consumer education programme to prevent cross-contamination of pathogens such as Campylobacter carried by fresh chicken in the home.

NZFSA risk managers continually assess the likely impacts of different control measures on preventing, eliminating or reducing foodborne risks to human health from a wide variety of sources.

Hygiene controls

Step Three involves implementing the risk management decision. This is likely to involve designing and implementing specific hygiene controls, processes or regulatory standards that were agreed in Step Two. The measures are then validated to ensure that they will likely achieve the public health goals required, and parameters identified that will enable compliance with any regulatory standards to be verified.

The final Step Four involves monitoring and reviewing the whole exercise. Says Dr Cook: “We’re constantly gathering and analysing data and these data get fed into ongoing risk assessment and risk management activities. We evaluate the effectiveness of the controls we’ve put in place and, if we’ve got it right at every step of the way, we should start to see the targeted foodborne illness drop away. If not, then we start the process again, reevaluating the data and the decisions made in steps One to Three

“Throughout every part of the process we also consult and communicate with industry and our public stakeholders to ensure data collection, processes and interpretation are appropriate, that decisions made are practical and affordable and – most importantly – that the process is transparent. It’s important that everybody is comfortable with them, that they’re being carried out correctly – and they work.”

Risk assessment

A large part of the risk management framework involves risk assessment: having worked out which chemical or microbiological hazards are of significant enough risk to warrant further investigation, NZFSA prioritises them so that those of most concern are tackled first.

Dr Gallagher explains: “Risk assessment involves looking at the probability (the chance) of a particular foodborne illness occurring and the severity (the consequences) of that illness.

“For example campylobacteriosis, is not usually severe but it is the most frequently reported gastrointestinal infection in New Zealand, so the probability that it occurs is high. This ranks it high on our list of priorities.

“In contrast, infection with Listeria monocytogenes doesn’t frequently occur but the consequences, including miscarriage and stillbirth, are severe so it too ranks highly.

“Similarly, other hazards that cause foodborne illness such as Salmonella and E.coli O157:H7 also rank highly. E.coli O157:H7 causes illness infrequently compared to Campylobacter, but it makes children very sick – hence its high ranking.”

Accurate picture

“When we first identify an issue,” says Dr Cook, “whether it’s a foodborne illness or food contaminant, a lot of time and resources go into finding out the size of the problem. Profiling and assessing the risk and gathering as much information as we can cannot be done overnight but we form the best picture possible from the current science available and the experience of experts in the relevant fields.

“The process is a continuing one: we’re constantly collecting new data and reevaluating decisions made. We have to decide whether the studies use ‘good scientific process’ and if the results and conclusions are actually applicable to New Zealand.”

When a hazard becomes a risk

Hazards and the risks associated with them are part of our everyday lives. Knowing about the hazards that surround us allows us to take steps to minimise the risk of being harmed by them.

A hazard can be defined as a possible source of danger: for example, an icy road, unguarded machinery or the presence of bacteria on food that cause foodborne illness.

A risk is the chance that harm will actually occur as a result of a particular hazard.

A dangerous animal roaming free in a neighbourhood where people are exposed to it is a risk that needs to be managed. However, if that animal is in a secure enclosure it is still a hazard, but since it is not free to roam, no chance of risk is generated.

In terms of food safety, bacteria that can cause foodborne illness can be seen as a hazard. If food is undercooked and the bacteria are still present the person eating the food is exposed to this hazard and it’s likely there’ll be some risk of that person getting sick as a result. The level of risk is often a function of the level of hazard remaining in the food ie: the dose, and a key part of risk assessment is calculating a dose / response curve.

However, if the food is cooked and prepared properly, the hazard can be removed and the person eating the food will not be exposed, thereby removing the risk of foodborne illness.

To assess risks associated with food, NZFSA uses sound science which is what risk managers rely on to make their decisions on food controls.

For more information

To find out more about NZFSA’s science strategy visit the website: www.nzfsa.govt.nz/science/research-projects/index.htm. For an introduction to risk profiles: www.nzfsa.govt.nz/science/risk-profiles/about/index.htm.