Open Meeting Food Safety Risk Assessment: Users and Needs - August 7, 1998
Interpretive summaries and request for information
An open meeting entitled "Food Safety Risk Assessment: Users and Needs" was held at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD on August 7, 1998, the third in a series of risk assessment meetings held by the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN). The Risk Assessment Consortium and the FDA have charged JIFSAN with identifying potential users of a food safety risk assessment clearinghouse and obtaining input on their food safety risk assessment information needs.
The meeting program consisted of a full-day of presentations, interactive discussions and breakout sessions. The morning session was structured to provide background information on the principles of risk assessment and its application to food safety. The relationship between risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication (all components of risk analysis) was emphasized in the morning discussions. A panel consisting of professional risk assessors discussed how their institutions used risk assessment to improve food safety. The outcomes from the morning session's interactive discussions are presented in the Reports section below.
The afternoon session started off with a presentation defining the clearinghouse concept, describing existing clearinghouses and highlighting some considerations for a food safety risk assessment clearinghouse. The afternoon program also consisted of interactive discussions and breakout sessions aimed at capturing the information needs of potential users of the risk assessment clearinghouse. The audience was asked to participate in one of five focus groups charged with addressing a series of questions about their priority risk assessment information needs. The focus groups represented government, industry, academia, consumers and media.
They were asked the following questions:
- When it comes to food safety, what do you worry about?
- Given those concerns, what kind of information do you need to make food safety decisions?
- Where do you currently get your food safety information and what do you do when you can't find the information you need?
- Given all the different ways that information can be delivered to you, how would you like to get food safety information? Which way would you most likely use?
- How can we best keep you involved in the development of the Food Safety Risk Analysis Clearinghouse?
If you would like to respond to these questions, please feel free to comment. We will incorporate your input in the design of the Clearinghouse. Focus group responses are presented as interpretive summaries in the Reports section below.
We are interested in generating as much input as possible from interested parties. If you were unable to attend the August 7th meeting, we welcome your responses to the questions posed to the audience. The input obtained will be used to help guide the development of the food safety risk assessment clearinghouse described in the President's May 1997 Food Safety Initiative Report. If you are interested in providing us your input into the development of the risk assessment clearinghouse, please follow the instructions outlined below:
- Select a focus group that most closely represents your affiliation.
- Read the questions that were posed to the meeting participants.
- Use the comment buttons to send us your input.
- Questions may be addressed by sending an e-mail message to foodrisk@umd.edu.
- Comments will be reviewed and incorporated into the website reports.
Interpretive Summary Reports
The Focus Group Leader of each group submitted a written summary report.Industry Focus Group Leader: Dr. Margaret Hardin
Academia Focus Group Leader: Dr. Steve Anderson
Govt/Legislative Focus Group Leader: Dr. Stephanie Smith
Public Health and Consumer Group & Communication / Media / Outreach Group
-
Focus Group Leader: Ms. Joanne Coffin - Public
Health / Consumers
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Focus Group Leader: Ms. Cindy Roberts - Communication
/ Media / Outreach
Ranking the importance of aspects of food safety
During the presentations by food safety risk experts, the moderator abstracted the following aspects of risk assessment. The audience was asked to rank the relative importance of each of these topics during a break time. The following list of aspects of risk assessment includes the audience ranking of importance. If you wish to respond to this question and to describe other aspects of food safety risk assessment, please feel free to comment.
In terms of food safety, what is most important to you?
- Carefully defining food safety questions. (74)
- Evolving models, techniques and risk characterization. (54)
- Research on emerging issues. (49)
- Food safety threats from environmental exposure to pathogens. (47)
- More field condition data on microbial hazards. (45)
- Identify epidemiological risk characteristics. (38)
- Better public education vis-a-vis risk prevention. (33)
- Improved risk communication. (27)
- More "bench" research. (22)
- Development of "standard" tools and models. (21)
- Costs of risk reduction measures. (21)
- More comparative (relatively) risk assessment. (16)
- Identifying new hazards. (16)
- Development of safety/uncertainty factors. (12)
- Cumulative effects assessment research. (11)
- Uncertainty attending food safety information. (11)
- More research on "unknown" risks. (11)
- More policy research. (10)
- Setting pesticide levels in foods. (10)
- Development of estimated daily intakes. (9)
- Assessment aggregate exposure research. (8)
- Better cost effectiveness and benefit-cost analysis. (6)
- Need more rapid response hazard assessment for voluntary product recall. (6)
- This is a new field--Let's define food safety risk assessment terms so that we have common language. (6)
- Expanding use of safety assessment. (6)
- Development of acceptable daily intakes. (5)
- Mutability of microbes as a result of environmental stresses. (4)
- Constituent Chemical Research. (3)
- Research on genetically engineered organisms. (3)
- Defining single level of acceptable dose of food components. (2)
- Defining safety not probability. (2)
- Genetic interconnection between microbes. (1)
- Protecting systems in which information resides. (1)
- Metabolic research. (0)
- Need more worst-case safety assessment (lethality standards). (0)
- The fetus. (0)
- Physical Tolerance Research. (0)
- More safe or not-safe information. (0)
Risk Assessment Consortium: 1998-SEP-25
