Globally risk assessment is becoming an important tool, used by industry and regulatory bodies. During the past decade a number of food safety risk assessments have been carried out including:
1994 Canada Listeria monocytogenes in pasteurised milk
1996 Canada various products
1997 USA Salmonella enteritidis in pasteurised eggs
1998 USA Ecoli O157:H7 in hamburger meat
1999 Australian dairy industry entire product range
1999 Australian meat industry various products
As HACCP based plans become more widely introduced it is becoming clear that there are serious limitations to applying HACCP in contexts where risk assessment has not been carried out.
The proposed seafood food safety risk assessment will separate the important few risks, from the many, by ranking products, processes and markets according to risk . Consequent risk communication followed by risk management actions will assist high risk sectors control their exposures.
The risk assessment and its outputs will enable the seafood industry and regulators to ensure that the food safety programs they develop and implement are soundly based on an assessment of risks in their business.
Recent successful litigation concerning food safety has further emphasised the importance of ensuring that due diligence has been followed in relation to managing food safety risks and that it is not enough to do what is required (by government) but to do what is necessary based on best available knowledge.
Phase 1 of the risk assessment has been completed. This project will complete phase 2 of the risk assessment and will produce a number of products which will help ensure that the seafood industry is operating within a soundly based food safety risk framework. One which is seen as ensuring credible food safety practices by industry, governments and importantly consumers.
This work is also essential as an input to the food safety standards for the seafood industry currently being developed by Seafood Services Australia.
Final report
A survey was made of all documented seafood-related illness for the period 1990-2000, when there were at least 2,638 who became ill after consuming seafood during the last decade, mainly after consuming oysters raw or eating fish known to be associated with ciguatera. The 2638 known illnesses represent a likelihood of illness every 6,000,000th meal. Allowing for 1% reporting of illness results in 263,800 illnesses over the decade and a likelihood of seafood causing illness increases in every 60,000th meal.
The prevalence of at-risk consumer groups was identified. Most of us have natural defences against food poisoning micro-organisms which first must survive the stomach acid before they can take up residence in our intestine. Unfortunately, for susceptible groups within the community, their natural defences are less effective and even small doses of bacteria or viruses can cause food poisoning. Around 20% of the Australian population has at least one at-risk factor, such as age, pregnancy, extreme youth, diabetes or cancer. At-risk consumers are especially vulnerable to certain hazards in seafoods.
Risk assessments were completed for ten hazard product pairings. Using a risk characterization tool, a Risk Ranking between 0 and 100 was estimated for each pairing.
Keywords: Seafood safety, risk assessment, HACCP.
