- Print Friendly - Help

Food Focus May 2008

Applying a risk management framework to food safety

Much of NZFSA’s work is about understanding and dealing with foodborne risks to consumers. NZFSA has updated an earlier document explaining how it makes decisions on food safety issues. This involves a four-step cyclical process that systematically integrates the elements of risk analysis (risk assessment, risk management and risk communication) within a risk management framework

Risk analysis is now seen as a core food safety discipline and is used to answer a basic set of questions:

• What can go wrong?

• How likely is it to go wrong?

• How serious would it be if it went wrong?

• What can be done to reduce the likelihood and/or seriousness of it going wrong?

Prevention, reduction or elimination of risks can take many forms and may involve balancing scientific findings against other factors, such as health expectations or likely costs of control measures. Since health risks can come from many different sources, eg pathogens or chemical residues in the food supply, they need to be ranked to decide which ones are to be prioritised for developing and applying food safety control measures.

Principles are agreed

Applying risk analysis effectively to food safety depends on having agreed principles and processes. This is how an agreed risk management framework (RMF) became a key part of NZFSA’s regulatory framework. Our RMF is supported by a set of internationally agreed principles and guidelines that are now applied by many countries.

Four components make up the framework:

1. preliminary risk management activities

2. identifying and selecting risk management options

3. implementing risk management decisions

4. monitoring and review.

Many groups are involved

While all stakeholders have a role, NZFSA as the risk manager is the central player. Systematically applying a risk management framework to food safety issues brings many benefits that can be passed on to both consumers and industry:

• risk-based food control systems can be established to achieve required levels of consumer protection

• regulatory decisions are proportionate to the health risks involved

• innovation and flexibility can be provided for when applying control measures

• due regard can be taken of the costs as well as benefits of regulatory activities.

Working with consumers and industry when developing control measures is a key part in ensuring they will be effective once implemented.

Robust science is a key input to all components of NZFSA’s risk management framework. This is provided from a range of sources, such as NZFSA itself, contracted science providers and international liaison.

Needs well-functioning systems

The application of an RMF to food safety issues is not enough on its own. Food safety control measures must be underpinned by well-functioning operational systems and the NZFSA ‘regulatory model’ finds full expression in the third step of the RMF, which involves implementing and verifying the chosen control measures.

Evaluation of monitoring data on hazards and risks on a periodic basis provides NZFSA with information on the effectiveness of its risk management decisions and actions. It also helps to identify new food safety problems as they emerge.

NZFSA’s risk management framework