Food risk ranking

This project used overseas models to estimate the numbers of cases of illness, hospitalisations and deaths due to foodborne agents occurring in a calendar year in New Zealand. The estimates concern illness caused by microbial pathogens only.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) has adopted a structured approach to food safety risk management. Details of the generic approach have been published in the document “Food Administration in New Zealand: A Risk Management Framework for Food Safety” (Ministry of Health/Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2000).

This project is intended to develop a prototype risk ranking methodology (including risk categories and criteria) suitable for food safety issues appropriate to the NZFSA.

This project is intended to develop a scientifically-based process for ranking food safety risks that has broad application, is user friendly, and has wide acceptance by stakeholders.

This report contributes to a project with the following goal:
• The development of a single metric of risk ranking that can be applied to both chemical and microbiological hazards, and is applicable to the varied risk ranking needs of the NZFSA.

This report contributes to a project with the following goal:
• The development of a single metric of risk ranking that can be applied to both chemical and microbiological hazards, and is applicable to the varied risk ranking needs of the NZFSA.

From 2002 – 2005 the risk ranking project conducted by ESR for the NZFSA developed a process, and used expert opinion to produce severity and incidence estimates for a number of food/(microbiological) hazard combinations. The challenge is now to rank these, by devising a single metric that describes the burden of disease by combining information about severity and incidence. A further challenge will be to devise this metric in a way that is also applicable to chemical hazards. The health effect most commonly associated with foodborne microbiological hazards is acute gastrointestinal disease; chemical hazards cause a wider variety of adverse health effects, usually after exposure over a much longer time period.

This report contributes to a project with the following goal:
• The development of a single metric of risk ranking that can be applied to both
chemical and microbiological hazards, and is applicable to the varied risk ranking
needs of the NZFSA.

The burden of foodborne disease in New Zealand has been determined previously for selected bacterial and viral pathogens. These estimates have been updated to take into account 2011 New Zealand surveillance data, revised multipliers derived from the British IID2 study and alternative approaches to attribution of campylobacteriosis cases.

Update of a report made in 2011, with surveillance data for the 2013 year and updated estimates.

Report prepared for NZ Food Safety authority, November 2010, concerning the economic cost of campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, norovirus, yersiniosis, STEC, listeriosis