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FOOD
SAFETY OBJECTIVES
Background
The
Codex Committee for General Principles (CCGP)
at its 15th Session (2000) considered the
general aspects of the development and application
of food safety objectives, following discussions
at the 7th Session of the Codex Committee
on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification
Systems (CCFICS) (1999) and 45th Session of
the Executive Committee. CCFICS had requested
approval of the Commission to undertake the
elaboration of Guidelines for the Judgement
of Equivalence of Sanitary Measures associated
with Food Inspection and Certification System.
The proposal included consideration of the
concept of Food Safety Objectives.
The
CCGP, at its 15th Session, discussed whether
there was a need to define 'Food safety objectives'
and was of the opinion that the concept was
technical in nature and it was premature to
generalize the concept with a specific definition.
It agreed that the concept could be further
developed by other relevant Committees in
order to identify how it could be applied
to specific food safety issues, and that the
Committee would continue to oversee the consistency
in definition and application of the concept.
The
Codex Committee for Food Hygiene initiated
work on Proposed Draft Guidelines for Microbiological
Risk Assessment at its 31st Session (1998)
and introduced and discussed the concept of
Food Safety Objectives. It was advanced to
Step 3 for comments at the 32nd Session (1999)
and a restructured and revised draft was placed
at the 33rd Session (1999) which discussed,
among other issues, 'Food Safety Objectives
(FSOs), ' changed to 'Microbiological Food
Safety Objectives (MFSOs)'. The draft was
returned to Step 3 for revision by the drafting
group.
At
the 34th Session of CCFH (2000) a revised
draft was discussed. The concept of Food Safety
Objectives was supported by the Committee
and the importance of clearly defining the
term, so that it was understandable and could
be used in a transparent manner, was noted.
Food
Safety Objective- Salient Features identified
by CCFH
A
Food Safety Objective (FSO) or a Micro biological
Food Safety Objective (MFSO) can be a useful
tool in [microbiological] risk management.
The
function of a FSO is to express the level
of a hazard in a food that is tolerable in
relation to an appropriate level of consumer
protection. This is reflected in the following
working definition:
A
FSO is a statement based on a risk analysis
process, which expresses the level of a hazard
in a food that is tolerable in relation to
an appropriate level of protection.
An
alternate definition proposed by the International
Commission for Microbiological Specifications
in Foods but not yet accepted is:
The
maximum frequency and/or concentration of
a [microbiological] hazard in a food at the
time of consumption that provides the appropriate
level of health protection [(ALOP)].
When
justified by the risk assessment, the FSO
should express the level of the hazard as
its maximum tolerable frequency and/or concentration.
The FSO must be technically achievable, practicable
and quantifiable. Whilst decisions on acceptable
levels of risk should be determined primarily
by human health considerations, and arbitrary
or unjustified differences in the risk levels
should be avoided. Consideration of other
factors (e.g. economic costs, benefits, technical
feasibility, and societal preferences) may
be appropriate in some risk management contexts,
particularly in the determination of measures
to be taken. These considerations should not
be arbitrary and should be made explicit.
FSOs
should contain three components:
-
food
of concern,
-
hazard
of concern and
-
the
appropriate level of consumer protection.
The
statement of appropriate level of sanitary
protection in the WTO SPS Agreement is "The
level of protection deemed appropriate by
the Member establishing a sanitary measure
to protect human health.
NOTE - Many Members otherwise refer to this
concept as the acceptable level of risk."
The
appropriate level of consumer protection is
a reflection of a particular country's public
health goals relative to the application of
sanitary measures.
For
foods in international commerce, it represents
a consensus of what participating countries
or governments are willing to tolerate in
relation to their food supplies.
Once a consensus has been reached on what
is considered appropriate, it should be incorporated
into an FSO for communication to all affected
parties. Industry and regulatory authorities
should then adjust their control and inspection
systems to meet the FSO.
FSOs
are food safety management tools, which can
provide a number of functions. A few examples
are:
-
FSOs
provide a reference for the overall design
of good hygienic practices and HACCP based
food control systems;
-
FSOs
provide a target for the validation of sanitary
measures for segments of food production
systems, or for food production systems
in their entirety;
-
FSOs
may form the basis for derivation of performance
and hazard criteria for steps in a food
production system.
Because
significant differences in the occurrence of
food borne pathogens can be found between different
countries regions, FSOs in general and more
specifically sampling plans, criteria etc, should
not be considered universally common but should
take into account national and regional situations.
Primary
users of FSOs are governments and the
food industry.
-
By
governments to:
communicate
the expected level of food safety to the
food industry and the consumers.
- By
the food industry to:
show
that their products meet the established
tolerable level of risk for the specified
hazard.
At the international level, FSOs
can be used in the determination of equivalence
by showing that different sets of control
measures meet the same level of protection.
FSOs
do not prescribe how the expected level of
food safety can be achieved, leaving the food
industry to select the appropriate technology
including the establishment of process and
performance criteria.
Because
significant differences in the occurrence
of food borne pathogens can be found between
different countries or regions FSOs in general,
and more specially sampling plans, criteria,
etc., should not be universally common but
should take into account national and regional
situations.
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