About risk assessment
MPI follows the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s (CAC) risk assessment framework when ranking risks, undertaking risk profiles and risk assessments. Find out more about the CAC:
There are 4 main steps in MPI's risk management process:
- preliminary risk management activities
- assessment of risk management options
- implementation of the risk management decision
- monitoring and review.
Preliminary risk management activities
Before deciding on further actions, MPI gathers information about potential risks, including:
- identifying the food safety issue
- establishing a risk profile
- ranking the food safety issue for risk management
- establishing a risk assessment policy
- commissioning a risk assessment
- considering the results of risk assessment.
Assessment of risk management options
Assessment includes:
- identifying the available risk management options
- selecting a preferred risk management option
- making a final risk management decision.
Why the process has been adopted
To make the best use of resources, MPI uses the Standards Risk Management Decision process to identify, assess and compare the risks posed by various combinations of contaminants and foods. MPI is then able commit resources to the initiatives, which are most likely reduce these risks.
This involves integrating formerly separate frameworks to guide the decision making process. These frameworks include:
- New Zealand's Food Safety Risk Management Framework [PDF, 558 KB]
Risk assessment activities
Risk ranking
Risk ranking explains the approach to prioritising food safety risks and lists all the documents that relate to this process.
Risk profiles
Risk profiles as well as listing MPI’s published risk profiles relevant to food/hazard combinations, you can find here an explanation of how risk profiles are prepared and how they are used.
Hazard data sheets
Pathogen datasheets and chemical information sheets are considered hazard data sheets. Hazard data sheets comprise of information about the potential microbial and chemical hazards in food, and their control.
Quantitative and qualitative risk assessments
Quantitative and qualitative risk assessments find links here to MPI’s assessments that evaluate the probability and severity of illness due to eating food containing particular biological, chemical or physical agents.
Keeping up to date
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