Regulatory efforts internationally have focused on the use of risk
assessment tools to drive food safety policy and standards away
from prescriptive to outcomes based on concepts such as the Food
Safety Objective (FSO) and Performance Objectives (CAC, 2007;
ICMSF, 2002a). These approaches provides a scientific basis that
promotes flexibility and innovation by allowing industry to select
and implement control measures specific to particular operations.
Many current food safety issues are complex in nature, requiring
approaches through the production chain and relying on more than
one control measure to manage risk effectively. It is envisaged by
regulators around the world that the new risk management
guidelines will offer a framework that will facilitate communication
between stakeholders on the most effective food safety management
options as well as providing a scientific basis for equivalency.
The risk management framework approach has seen wide
application in the development of Codex Alimentarius codes for the
control of Listeria in ready to eat products and within the hygienic
code of practice for powdered infant formula. More recently, this
framework has been used as the basis for the validation of control
measures in a food chain and in the consideration of alternative
measures to ensure the safety of commercially sterile foods
(Anderson et al., 2011)