The drafting groups presented overviews of the risk assessments on Salmonella spp. in eggs and broiler chickens and L. monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods to the expert consultation. A summary of these risk assessments and a response to the specific questions posed by the CCFH are included in sections five and six of this report. The complete risk assessment documentation will be available on the FAO and WHO websites at the end of 2001.
The expert consultation acknowledged and expressed their appreciation for the body of work that had been carried out by the expert drafting groups and the quality of the material presented.
The expert consultation noted that due to the nature and status of the documents presented, it was not possible for every expert to address both documents equally. The experts worked in two groups as outlined in the following tables. It was recommended that in future expert consultations more time should be devoted to the exercise or the two risk assessments should be addressed in separate consultations.
Salmonella spp. in eggs and broiler chickens
|
Independent Experts |
Expert members of the drafting groups |
Resource personnel |
|
Michael Doyle, United States |
Eric Ebel, United States |
Carol Maczka, United States |
Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods
|
Independent Experts |
Expert members of the drafting groups |
Resource personnel |
|
Olivier Cerf, France |
Robert Buchanan, United States |
Jeronimas Maskeliunas, Codex Secretariat |
The advantages and disadvantages of a farm-to-table approach were discussed. The 32nd session of the CCFH recommended that “the ad hoc expert consultation evaluate the risk reduction potential of relevant risk management options from farm-to-table continuum”(ALINORM 01/13). The consultation, however, recognized that the components of the food chain to be modelled were dependent on the risk management question addressed to the risk assessors and the available information. The expert consultation was of the view that if a component was not modelled, the reasons for this should be clearly documented and the resulting limitations clearly described. L. monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods (milk, ice cream, soft mould-ripened cheese, minimally processed vegetables, semi-fermented meats) was modelled from retail to consumer. Salmonella spp. in broiler chickens was modelled from the end of commercial processing to consumption and Salmonella Enteriditis in eggs was modelled from production to consumption.
The expert consultation noted that the work on both L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. relied to a large extent on the availability of risk assessments conducted at the national level. In the case of Salmonella spp. in broiler chickens, no national risk assessment has been carried out and the expert consultation therefore noted that this work had focussed more on the provision of guidelines for the types of information and approach that might be used to develop a processing to consumer risk model. An individual processing operation, country or region could use their data as parameters to produce a risk estimate.
The expert consultation recognized that a clear definition of the risk management question was essential in order to ensure that the risk assessment was correctly targeted. In order to achieve this, interaction between the risk assessors and the risk managers was necessary from an early stage in the process.
Apart from the contribution that they make towards quantitative microbiological risk assessment, the expert consultation discussed the usefulness of the documents prepared by the expert drafting groups on Salmonella and Listeria in a broader context. It was noted that the documents provide a good review of the two microorganisms and their occurrence and behaviour and therefore also serve as a reference document for individuals, institutions, industry etc. with an interest in these particular microorganisms.
