Microbiological Risk Assessment in Foods: Background and Tools, with a Focus on Risk Ranger

Overview

Journal Foods

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2023 Apr 13

PMID 37048303

Authors

Antonio Bevilacqua

Alessandro De Santis

Gaetano Sollazzo

Barbara Speranza

Angela Racioppo

Milena Sinigaglia

Maria Rosaria Corbo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Risk assessment is an important phase of the food production path; it is strictly related to the processing chain as a necessary step for safe foods. This paper represents a contribution to understanding what is and how risk assessment could be conducted; it aims to provide some information on the structure of risk assessment, the tools for its identification and measurement and the importance of risk assessment for correct communication. In this context, after a focus on the background and on some commonly used tools (Risk Ranger, FDA-iRisk, decision tree, among others), the paper describes how to perform risk assessment through three case studies: lettuce (for ), chicken salad (for ), and fresh egg pasta (for ) in the first step, and then a comparison of risk for chicken salad contaminated by different pathogens ( O157:H7, spp. and sp.). As a final step, a critical evaluation of Risk Ranger was carried out, pointing out its pros and cons.

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