The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization would like to express their appreciation to all those who contributed to the preparation of this report through the provision of their time and expertise, data and other relevant information and by reviewing the document and providing comments. In particular, the assistance of Martin Cole as meeting rapporteur was much appreciated.
Appreciation is also extended to all those who responded to the call for data that was issued by FAO and WHO and brought to our attention information that was not readily available in the mainstream literature and official documentation.
The preparatory work and expert meeting convened to prepare this report was coordinated by the Joint FAO/WHO Secretariat on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Foods. This included Sarah Cahill, Maria de Lourdes Costarrica and Jean Louis Jouve in FAO, and Peter Karim BenEmbarek, Jocelyne Rocourt, Hajime Toyofuku and Jørgen Schlundt in WHO. The secretariat was supported by Kaye Wachsmuth who coordinated the preparation of background papers for the meeting and assisted in the finalization of the report. During the meeting and the preparation of the report, additional support and feedback were provided by James Akre and Rajiv Bahl in WHO. Publication of the report was coordinated by Sarah Cahill. Ruth Duffy edited the report. The work was supported and funded by the FAO Food Quality and Standards Service and the WHO Food Safety Department.
