Microbiological risk assessment in food processing

Microbiological risk assessment (MRA) is rapidly maturing from its infancy to a constructive and practical component in the assurance of food safety. Adopted by Codex Alimentarius and other international bodies, it provides a structured way of identifying and assessing microbiological risks in food. This hardback book, edited by two leading authorities in the field and with contributions from an international panel of experts, provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of MRA and how it can be used to improve food safety.

After introductory chapters which place MRA within the broader context of international food safety standards, Part 1 describes the key steps in MRA methods. It starts with hazard identification and characterisation and then moves in turn through exposure assessment,risk characterisation and risk communication. Part 2 builds on this by considering how MRA can be applied. It looks at how to use the results of a microbiological risk assessment and discusses how MRA relates to HACCP, which by definition focuses on hazards.

Contents

Introduction

• Introduction
• The evolution of microbiological risk assessment

Part I - The methodology of microbiological risk assessment

• Microbiological risk assessment (MRA): an introduction
• Hazard identification
• Hazard characterisation / dose response assessment
• Exposure assessment
• Risk characterisation
• Risk communication

Part II - Implementing microbiological risk assessments

• Implementing the results of a microbiological risk assessment:pathogen risk management
• Tools for microbiological risk assessment
• Microbiological criteria and microbiological risk assessment
• Microbiological risk assessment and HACCP systems
• The future of microbiological risk assessment

Hardback book - 224 pages