Page 337 - Biosystems Engineering

314 Cha pte r T e n

Thus, although risk assessment and HACCP are related, they are fun-
damentally different processes (Voysey and Brown 2000).

10.3.3 Food Safety Targets
Specific targets have been developed in food safety management to
monitor overall food safety and to assist in complying with trade
regulations. In the WTO SPS agreement, reference is made to mem-
bers ensuring an appropriate level of protection (ALOP) (WTO 1995).
The decision on what this level should be is a matter for risk manag-
ers. Risk assessment is a tool that can provide data to assist in making
that decision (Gorris 2005), which in turn can help in the formulation
of food safety objectives (FSO). Havelaar et al. (2004) define an FSO as
being “a limit to the prevalence and the average concentration of a
microbial hazard in food, at an appropriate step in the food chain at
or near the point of consumption, that provides the appropriate level
of protection.” The concept of FSOs is important for governmental
bodies working on food safety control and legislation. Previous risk
assessments have resulted in FSOs being suggested for Salmonella
enteritidis in eggs, aflatoxins in raw peanuts, and Salmonella in pow-
dered milk (Stringer 2005).
Another term of reference is the concept of a performance objec-
tive (PO), which is, essentially, a target set earlier in the food chain
prior to consumption and one that must be adhered to in order to
fulfill a FSO (Fig. 10.1). POs provide guidance on what should be
happening along the food chain in order for an FSO to be achieved.
Thus, FSOs and POs are food safety targets (van Schothorst, 2005).
Control measures (CMs) may be introduced as necessary in order to
ensure compliance with POs and FSOs. The CAC (2004) have pro-
posed an additional term, performance criteria (PC), to describe the
overall effect that a CM must have in order to reduce hazard during
that step so that the resulting hazard level from that step complies
with the PO or the FSO (Gorris 2005). The relationship between food
safety targets and how they relate to different stages in the food pro-
duction chain are illustrated in Fig. 10.1.

CM CM CM FSO

Production PO Processing PO Retail/consumer PO Consumption

PC PC PC
ALOP

FIGURE 10.1 Food safety targets pertaining to a food safety management system
(ALOP = appropriate level of protection; CM = control measure; FSO = food safety
objective; PC = performance criteria; PO = performance objective).