Module No.

& Title Module 3: Introduction to Risk Management in Food

Establishments

Module Overview
Welcome to the Module 3!

The module situates risk analysis within the broader

framework of food safety. It demonstrates how, when both the
incidence of foodborne disease and the number of disruptions
to international trade in foodstuffs are increasing, it is more
critical than ever for countries to implement an effective food
safety system guided by the modern concept of risk analysis
to address current challenges.
Module By the end of this module, the students are expected to:
Objectives/Outcomes
1. Distinguish between risk analysis and its three
components as they pertain to food safety.
2. Distinguish between traditional and scientific approaches
to food safety
3. Recognize the critical nature of risk communication in the
workplace.
4. Describe the actions necessary to conduct a risk
assessment in the workplace.
Lessons in the Lesson 1. Traditional Food Safety Systems:
module A science-based approach to Food Safety
Lesson 2: A Food Handler's Guide to
Personal Hygiene
Lesson 3: Basic to Food Safety and Factors
that Affects Food-borne Illness
Module No. and Module 3: Introduction to Risk Management in Food
Title Establishments

Lesson No. and Lesson 1: Traditional Food Safety Systems

Title A science-based approach to Food Safety.

Learning Outcomes By the end of this module, the students are expected to:
1. Distinguish between risk analysis and its three
components as they pertain to food safety.
2. Distinguish between traditional and scientific
approaches to food safety
3. Recognize the critical nature of risk communication
in the workplace.
4. Describe the processes necessary to perform a risk
assessment in the workplace.
Time Frame Five (4) hours in one (1) week
Food safety is a critical public health concern
Introduction in every country. Contamination of Food by
microbes and chemicals is a leading cause of
disease. Foodborne illness continues to be a
large and serious concern in rich and developing nations
alike, resulting in substantial human misery and economic
losses. Each year, foodborne illnesses afflict up to one-third
of the population in industrialized nations, and the situation
is expected to be considerably worse in developing
countries.
 The primary objective of food safety management is to
keep foodborne diseases to a minimum. It can only be
accomplished by adopting preventative measures at each
point along the food chain where risks may emerge. The
purpose of food law is not to decrease the danger of
hazardous Food. To minimize the danger of hazardous
Food, food firms are advised to use risk analysis practices.

Risk analysis has been shown to enhance food safety

decision-making processes effectively and therefore
improve public health. It provides governments with a
framework for assessing, managing, and communicating
food safety hazards efficiently in collaboration with the
different stakeholders. Risk analysis contributes to
continuous improvement in food safety by establishing
realistic, science-based targets for reducing the incidence
of foodborne disease, planning and implementing tailored
interventions, and monitoring these interventions' outcomes
(both successful and unsuccessful).

Activity

Activity.
Reflective writing. (Use another sheet to answer)
Direction: Answer the following questions. Be as brief and
concise as possible.

1. What is risk management, and how can we apply it to

the foods?
2. Explain the importance of risk management in the
hospitality and tourism industry.
Use another sheet to answer.
Analysis
Questions to ponder:
Direction: Answer the following questions. Be as brief and
concise as possible.
1. Why is risk management considered to be a
proactive tool in management in managing any form
of business? Justify your answers by providing
 concrete examples.
2. Provide your processes in performing a risk
assessment inside your situational workplace.
Abstraction
Food safety is everyone's duty, from
regulators to producers to consumers. On
the other hand, governments are
accountable for creating an enabling institutional and
regulatory framework conducive to food regulation. Most
developing nations currently have some form of food
regulation, often centered on cleanliness and
adulteration/fraud inspection. While these vary
significantly, they often include food laws and regulations,
food control management, inspection and laboratory
services, and occasionally methods for information,
education, communication, and food supply monitoring.

Globalization of the food trade, urbanization,

changing consumption patterns, agricultural
intensification, increased travel and tourism, and new
production and manufacturing systems are just a few
developments affecting food safety in some nations.

While traditional food safety systems were somewhat

effective in the past at reducing food hazards, they are
incapable of detecting and resolving many current issues
and effectively addressing the full range of complex,
persistent, pervasive, and evolving challenges
confronting various segments of the food chain. When
combined with the new Risk Analysis technique, a
current food safety system can diagnose issues more
precisely and suggest targeted solutions to address them
(see Figure 1) effectively.
 Modern Food Safety
System

- Reactive approach
- Main responsibility
with government
- No structured risk
analysis
- Relies on end
product inspection and
testing

Level of risk reduction: Level of risk reduction:

Not always satisfactory Improved

Figure 2.4: Characterization of food safety systems

Food Safety Through a Scientific Lens

Numerous governments in underdeveloped countries

are currently taking measures to enhance and bolster
their food safety management systems. Numerous
businesses are relocating away from the previous
method centered on end-product control, which has
shifted toward a process- and science-based approach.
Indeed, many nations' food safety authorities already use
various sorts o-based activities and decision-making in
their daily jobs (see Box 1).

A science-based approach enhances the capability of

conventional food safety systems to address
contemporary issues and increases consumer access to
safe Food. Scientific evidence may help prevent the
incidence of foodborne hazards, help mitigate and
manage risk, and help enhance decision-making results.
A science-based approach strengthens food safety
inspectors' capacity to:

i) Recognize hazards;
ii) Define the type and magnitude of such dangers;

iii) Determine one's exposure to specified dangers; and

iv) Calculate the probability and magnitude of the ensuing

hazards and their impact on human health.

v) Assist in prioritizing dangers

Box 1: Examples of science-based activities

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

(HACCP) systems implementation
Establishing safe daily consumption limits for
chemical additives and residues of
Food contaminated with pesticides and veterinary
medicines
Utilization of research to create warning labels for
customers regarding possible dangers, including
allergies to foods
Risk assessment is used to support food safety
 standards.
Establishment of product safety, performance, and
specifications for international commerce
Establishment of a Food Safety Objective to
ensure an adequate degree of food safety
safeguarding (ALOP)

Framework for Risk Analysis

A risk analysis framework establishes a process for

collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant scientific
and non-scientific information about a chemical,
biological, or physical hazard associated with Food
systematically and transparently to determine the best
option for risk management on the various alternatives
identified.

Risk Analysis's Components

Risk analysis is a systematic decision-making

process comprised of three separate but interdependent
components: risk management, risk assessment, and risk
communication (see Figure 2). Each of these
components is critical to the risk analysis process and
Risk Risk
complements the others. Although risk management and
Communication
risk communication have historically received less
Assessment

emphasis than risk assessment, it is critical to emphasize

that risk analysis is only effective when all three
components are integrated properly.
 Risk Management

Figure 2.5: Components of Risk Analysis

RISK ASSESSMENT

Codex describes risk assessment as a four-step scientific

procedure consisting of the following:

Hazard identification

It is "the discovery of biological, chemical, and physical

agents capable of generating adverse health
consequences that may be present in a specific food or
collection of foods, the danger they pose, their influence
on human health, and the conditions under which they
function." Numerous biological, chemical and physical
dangers contribute to food safety concerns (see Box 2)

Hazard characterization

It is "The qualitative and quantitative assessment of the

nature of the risks' detrimental health consequences on
humans." During hazard characterization, risk assessors
create a comprehensive profile of the type and severity of
the hazard, including the magnitude of the indicated
hazard's unfavorable health consequences.
 Exposure assessment

It is "the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the

extent to which biological, chemical and physical agents
are consumed or ingested through food, as well as
exposures from other sources, if applicable."

Risk characterization

Incorporating the three preceding processes into an

assessing likelihood of an unfavorable consequence
occurring in the target population. During risk
characterization, all of the evidence gathered in the
preceding three steps is combined to generate a risk
estimate (i.e., an estimate of the likelihood and severity of
adverse health effects occurring in a given population
with associated uncertainties) and address the risk
managers' questions.

Box 2: Examples of Hazards

Biological hazards Chemical hazards Physical hazards

1. Bacteria 1. indirect & direct food 1. jewelry, broken glass

2. Mold additives 2. stones

3. Parasites 2. pesticides residue 3. hair

 4. Viruses 3. naturally occurring toxins 4. insect parts

Controlling Workplace Risks

As part of managing your business's health and

safety, you must limit workplace risks. To do this, you
must consider what could cause harm to individuals and
determine if you are making reasonable efforts to avoid it.
It is referred to as risk assessment, and it is something
that you are obligated to do by law. If you have fewer
than five employees, you are not required to record
anything.

A risk assessment is not about amassing mountains

of paperwork but about establishing reasonable controls
to mitigate workplace hazards.

How to do a risk assessment at your workplace:

● Identify potential hazards

● Determine who may be hurt and how they might be
damaged
● Assess the dangers and take appropriate precautions
● Make a note of any important results.
● Re-evaluate your assessment and revise if required

Risk Management
 Risk management, along with risk assessment and
risk communication, is a critical component of risk
analysis. It outlines the stages involved in identifying and
evaluating a food safety risk, evaluating all available risk
management choices, implementing a risk management
decision, and ensuring that the decision made was the
most suitable feasible.

Risk management has been defined as the process

of identifying, evaluating, and mitigating "In contrast to
risk assessment, this is the process of weighing policy
alternatives in consultation with all interested parties,
taking into account risk assessment and other factors
pertinent to consumer health protection and the
promotion of fair-trade practices, and, if necessary,
selecting appropriate prevention and control options.
(Codex). Risk management thus plays a critical role from
the start of the risk analysis process in detecting food
safety issues and determining the most effective
strategies to address them.

The Four Components of Risk Management

Frameworks

❖ Preliminary risk management activities

1) identify the issue
2) create a risk profile
3) rank hazard
4) develop a policy for risk assessment
5) contract for risk assessment
6) evaluate findings
❖ Evaluation of risk management options
After completing the risk assessment, the different risk
management options must be identified, examined, and
assessed.

1) Determine available risk management

alternatives- Risk managers are responsible for
determining various risk management solutions
capable to resolve safety issues. Several risk
management strategies include the following: a.
Educate customers, for example, by labeling
items to warn and inform susceptible people. b.
Minimize early risks, e.g., by using pasteurized
components.
2) Choose the preferred risk management option -
Choosing a preferred risk management option, or
a combination of preferred risk management
choices, entails doing a systematic analysis,
comparison, and evaluation of the anticipated
impact of the additional risk reduction or
prevention alternatives. The various alternatives
are weighed against a set of minimum criteria to
see if they merit further study.

❖ Implementation of Risk Management Decision

Step 1: Make a definitive managerial choice.

The ultimate choice of risk management strategy
should be based on all available scientific,
technological, economic, and other pertinent data.
Whenever feasible, the emphasis should be on
avoiding hazards rather than merely regulating them.
Risk management should take the farm-to-table
continuum into account, regardless of the number of
authorities involved or their different duties.

Step 2: Put the risk-control measure(s) into

action

Decisions about risk management can be executed

by a range of stakeholders, including government
authorities, food business representatives, and
consumers. The precise method of execution will
depend on the circumstances and the sorts of
stakeholders involved. Certain governments or
regulatory bodies will continue to utilize traditional
regulatory techniques such as periodic inspections or
end-product testing, which lays the regulatory
authority's compliance responsibility on them.

 Monitoring and Review

Step 1: Analyze the results

 Decisions on risk management should be evaluated
regularly in light of new scientific knowledge or
insights and data acquired during monitoring. It will
enable risk management choices and risk
management's public health objectives to be
changed as necessary.

Step 2: Assess the success of measures taken

Risk managers may monitor the performance of certain

processes or the presence or concentration of a
particular disease in specific segments of the food chain.
Continuous data collection and analysis at key points in
the food chain are necessary to guarantee that food
safety objectives are met.

Essentially, risk management's objective is to anticipate

possible problems and have a strategy in place to solve
them.

Risk Communication

Risk communication, along with risk management

and risk assessment, is an essential element of risk
analysis. Risk communication distributes timely, relevant,
and correct information to members of the issue analysis
team and external stakeholders to increase awareness of
the nature and impact of a given food safety risk.
Effective risk communication is a precondition for risk
management and risk assessment to be effective.

Risk communication has been defined as "an interactive

exchange of information and opinions about risk, risk-
related factors, and risk perceptions between risk
assessors, risk managers, consumers, industry,
academia, and other interested parties throughout the
risk analysis process, including the explanation of risk
assessment findings and the basis for risk management
decisions" (Codex).

Purpose of Risk Communication

Risk communication's primary objective is to provide

meaningful, relevant, and accurate information in plain
and accessible language to a targeted audience. While
risk communication may not settle all of the parties'
dments, it should better understand those
disagreements. Additionally, risk communication should
result in more generally accepted and understood risk
management choices. Effective risk communication
should have as its primary objective the establishment
and maintenance of trust and confidence. It should
promote a greater degree of consensus and support for
the risk management option(s) being presented among
all relevant stakeholders. Box 3 summarizes the risk
communication objectives.
Box 3: Risk Communication Objectives

1. Increase awareness and comprehension of the

relevant issue among all participants, including
problems that must be considered throughout the risk
analysis process.

2. Promote consistency and openness in risk

assessment and management judgments.

3. Establish a strong foundation for comprehending the

risk that has been recommended and executed.

4. Enhance the risk analysis process's overall

effectiveness and efficiency.

5. Contribute to creating and disseminating useful

information when risk management programs are
chosen as a risk management strategy.

6. Increase public trust and confidence in the food

supply's safety.

7. Strengthen all participants' collaborative connections

and mutual respect.

8. Ensure that all relevant stakeholders are

appropriately included in the risk assessment process
of communication.

9. Disseminate information about one's knowledge,

attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Interested parties'
views of the dangers connected with Food and related
subjects.

Source: FAO/WHO. 1999. The application of risk

communication to food standards

and safety matters. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert

Consultation, Rome, 2-6

February 1998. Food and Nutrition Paper no. 70.