Units
Units
Safe and Healthy Food
Unit 3: Risk management strategies
Background
Depending on the circumstances food and the way we consume food may be related to risks for safety and health. Risk management is necessary to avoid the impact on food safety and consumers health on the one hand and to obtain the benefits that can be gained by specific food handling and the consumption of certain foods on the other hand. In order to define an adequate risk management, questions that have to be considered are e.g. the use of certain food additives, contaminants and residues, fortification of food, the development of food with additional nutritional functions, malnutrition due to exaggerated consumption of certain food, new food production techniques and others. The complexity of these questions is raised by increasing international trade with foods.
Risk-benefit analysis is one instrument to support the definition and implementation of appropriate risk management measures. People who are dealing with food or are involved in questions of nutritional needs must have sufficient knowledge about the existing risk management methods and strategies and their targets. They should be able to evaluate the specific effects of the different risk management options in order to apply them purposefully.
Aims
- To get acquainted with the fundamentals of risk management in the field of public health and food safety.
- To understand the interrelationship of risk management measures and related activities.
- To explore the main systems in place to manage risks in the field of public health and food safety in international trade.
- To follow the food chain and connect the several steps with adequate risk management options.
- To evaluate advantages and disadvantages of labelling and other measures in order to manage risks.