Benefit–risk analysis concerning mi

Benefit–risk analysis concerning microbiology is an important
issue for food safety management. However, BRA is a relatively
new research field in microbiology that needs to be explored further;
risk assessment is well defined but assessment of benefits
or weighing of benefits and risks has not been systematically addressed.
BRA has advanced further in the field of food and nutrition.
We propose that those practices could be adopted by food
microbiology, as has previously been done regarding microbiological
risk assessment, and food microbiology actively participates in
the discussion and scoping of the benefit–risk analysis approach.
Similarities of microbiological BRA and risk–risk assessment are
great, as many microbiological scenarios that warrant BRA relate
to the reduction of pathogen exposure; the benefits of reduced risk.
However, we note that quantitative studies related to food microbiology
have demonstrated that lack of data may in many cases
hamper the direct quantitative comparison of risks and benefits.
The BRA methodology of balancing benefits and risks could become
a valuable tool for decision making regarding microbiological
food safety and public health issues; and supplement other presently
available policy making and administrative tools (e.g. risk
assessments and cost-benefit assessments) regarding public health
and microbiological food safety management.