Developing Practical Risk Assessment for Fresh Produce Industrial Practice: Issues Faced While Putting ‘Formal MRA’ into Industrial Practice

Assessment and management of microbiological risks is of critical importance within any organisation producing foods. Risk assessment is a key part of food safety assurance and there are numerous published examples of large risk assessments done using Codex approaches, by governmental agencies and research bodies that tackle risks associated with particular products in great detail. But how does that leave smaller food producers that do not have the time or the access to expertise and information available to those involved in these Codex style assessments? Does this mean they are unable to make use of “Risk Assessment” to help in producing safe products? Or perhaps an alternative route is available to help such producers make use of a “Risk Assessment” approach.

An ILSI sub group has considered how such an approach of “An assessment of Risk” could be used by producers of fresh produce to help make key decisions and reduce risks. Fresh produce is an interesting product from a microbiological view, in most cases it is grown in an open environment. Control over environmental contamination may be considered to be difficult to achieve, yet this product is essentially ready to eat and true HACCP CCPs are virtually impossible to apply. Many of the microbiological hazards that apply to fresh produce will originate at the growing stage. Once those hazards are in place, they can be very difficult to effectively control. The “Assessment of Risk” approach suggested by the ILSI group, gives fresh produce growers a simple route forward by which they can look at the practices they employ in field growing and harvesting, can make well considered judgements as to the relative risks of various alternative ways of growing/harvesting product and finally employ a transparent and recorded system of “approaches” that can reduce risks during growth and harvest.