foodborne hazards, known as the risk estimate. There are four steps in
risk assessment.
(1)Hazard identificationis similar to the hazard analysis stage in
HACCP and must identify the agents that are hazards to health
and that may be present in a particular food. These will be the
focus of subsequent stages in the risk assessment process. As with
HACCP, these hazards may be chemical, physical or biological,
though in this case we are concerned with micro-organisms and
their toxins.
(2)Exposure assessmentis a qualitative/quantitative evaluation of
the likely intake of a hazardous agent. This must employ infor-
mation on consumption patterns,i.e.the amounts of a particular
food consumed by individuals, taking into account any variation
with factors such as age, socio-economic status, religion,etc.It
must also estimate the level of the microbial hazard in the food at
the time of consumption – information that could be obtained
from survey data and the use of predictive models describing the
growth/survival of the organisms under likely conditions of
storage and processing prior to consumption.
(3)Hazard characterization is the qualitative and/or quantitative
evaluation of the adverse effects associated with the particularFigure 11.13 Risk Analysis
(Adapted form Lammerding, J. Food protection 1997, 1420–1425)
Chapter 11 437