Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2013

MANAGEMENTtook so long to be resolved was that theappropriate analytical tools for E. coliO104 in food were not available at thetime] and traceability technology forthe entire supply chain. With an ongoingbackground level of around 1,000EHEC cases annually in Germany andaround 70,000 in the U.S., this is a primeexample of risk-based priority setting.The gradual efforts toward food safetyin terms of risk reduction are hard work,not very glamorous and never finished.Any preventive effects can be demonstratedonly indirectly and statistically, sothe immediate rewards in terms of a demonstrableintervention in an acute caseare simply not there. Looking back at thebehaviors of some of the stakeholdersin the aforementioned German EHECcase, where there was no shortage ofactors claiming a part of the responsibilitiesand public communication duties,impatience with the slower pace and lessprecipitous actions of a risk-reductionapproach may have been a factor.At the same time, we would benefitfrom a very critical assessment of allzero-tolerance, hazard-based approachesfor the reasons provided above. Riskcommunication must be an importantelement of this exercise. Recognizingthat much of the driving force behindthe designation of zero-tolerance hazardsis aversion-based (zero tolerance wasnot put in place because there is infiniterisk), the best options here might be instressing the negative consequences ofmany hazard-based approaches:• The unstoppable drive toward completeelimination of implicated productsfrom the market in the absenceof any significant risk• The associated food waste• The inherent tendency toward “discovering”more of these instances• The very considerable efforts involved• The tendency to reconfirm existingfeelings of uncertainty among thepublic• The absence of a contribution towardreducing the rate of foodbornediseasesMoving forward, the food industry—primaryproducers, manufacturers,retailers and foodservice—will need tocontinue to work together to improverisk-based food safety management alongthe entire supply chain. We will alsoneed to become more vocal in challengingmany hazard-based, zero-toleranceapproaches that may effectively undermineany confidence the consumer mayhave in our global food safety efforts. •Peter Overbosch, Ph.D., is vicepresident of corporate qualityassurance, Metro AG, based inDusseldorf, Germany.References1. www.eu-vital.org/en/home.html.2. www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2005/03/03/1313354.htm.3. www.cbgnetwork.org/1629.html.INTRODUCINGNew Epower TM Certified Reference Material (CRM) is a quantitativemicroorganism preparation.For Testing Laboratories, Section 5.6.3.2 of ISO 17025:2005 states:“Referencematerialsshall,wherepossible,betraceabletoSIunitsofmeasurements,ortoCERTIFIED REFERENCE MATERIALS.”Includes Certificate of Analysis!www.microbiologics.comReference Material ProducerCERT # 2655.0229128_5_EPowerCRM_HalfPage.indd 17/2/12 4:47 PMF e b r u a r y • M a r c h 2 0 1 3 31