With respect to guidance milestones, there are thus
now two discrete elements proposed: a single FSO at
the time of consumption and one or more POs, as
required, at earlier points in the food chain. These milestones
are not intended to be enforced but should
provide guidance to what level of a hazard should not
be surpassed at that point helping food safety managers to design the correct operational control measures at the
step in the chain. Complying with the hazard level tolerated
at the moment of consumption, the FSO, is a
shared responsibility for all parties together. This
requires an appropriate design of the complete chain,
which is helped by specifying POs and PCs as food control
guidance targets or food safety management measures
at relevant points in the production chain.
Although PO and PC like the FSO are not intended to
be enforced, these concepts on occasion could lend
themselves to be verified by specific testing or could be
linked to specific microbiological criteria.