Miller Magazine Issue: 119 November 2019

16 MILLER / NOVEMBER 2019 Chrisa Kargiotou Food Scientist chrisa@agrospecom.gr Food Safety Risk Assessment in a flour mill Guest Author “Risk assessment results allow each facility to decide how to manage its own unique risks, since risk assessment is commonly undertaken to help risk managers understand which, if any, inter- vention strategies can best serve the needs of food safety or if current risk management actions are adequate. Any hazard that has been determined as of “High” or of “Very high” risk must be controlled by risk management as to be reduced.” ADDRESSING FOOD SAFETY Globalization of food markets, in conjunction with advances in the food technology and production systems, with increas- ing incidences of foodborne diseases and enhanced world- wide public health concern, have increased the challenge to manage food safety risks. Effective management of risks arising from food related haz- ards is technically a complex process. A process that has been traditionally the responsibility of the industry that has to operate an array of control measures relating to the food hygiene within an overall regulatory framework. A “Risk-based” approach is the mean of evaluating and con- trolling food related hazards to help protecting the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade. Risk analy- sis includes 3 component parts of 1) risk assessment, 2) risk management and 3) risk communication (Figure 1, FAO/WHO, 2007). On this article we focus on only on the first part of the “Risk- based approach”: the Risk Assessment. RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS Risk Assessment (RA) is used to evaluate foodborne haz- ards, the likelihood of exposure to those hazards and the re- sulting public-health impact, taking into account relevant pro- duction, storage and handling practices used throughout the