Performance standards have been developed to express, for regulatory purposes, an acceptable level of food safety
afforded by either a product or a process. These performance standards have reflected the development of
scientific thought on food safety management through setting of microbiological criteria, implementing hazard
analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems, process control and risk-based management. In meat safety
management, some performance standards reflect current risk-based thinking which sets objectives and/or
criteria and allows freedomon howthose objectives/criteria can be met. However, many performance standards
do not reflect current thinking and some perpetuate the idea that meat can be consumed with zero risk.
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