scholarly journals Predicting Food-Safety Risk and Determining Cost-Effective Risk-Reduction Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
William E. Nganje ◽  
Linda D. Burbidge ◽  
Elisha K. Denkyirah ◽  
Elvis M. Ndembe
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Performance Standard ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Retail Meat ◽  
Risk Reduction Strategies ◽  
Food Safety Risk

Food safety is a major risk for agribusiness firms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 5000 people die annually, and 36,000 people are hospitalized as a result of foodborne outbreaks in the United States. Globally, the death estimate is about 42,000 people per year. A single outbreak could cost a particular segment of the food industry hundreds of millions of dollars due to recalls and liability; these instances might amount to billions of dollars annually. Despite U.S. advancements and regulations, such as pathogen reduction/hazard analysis critical control points (PR/HACCP) in 1996 and the Food Modernization Act in 2010, to reduce food-safety risk, retail meat facilities continue to experience recalls and major outbreaks. We developed a stochastic-optimization framework and used stochastic-dominance methods to evaluate the effectiveness for three strategies that are used by retail meat facilities. Copula value-at-risk (CVaR) was utilized to predict the magnitude of the risk exposure associated with alternative, cost-effective risk-reduction strategies. The results showed that optimal retail-intervention strategies vary by meat and pathogen types, and that having a single Salmonella performance standard for PR/HACCP could be inefficient for reducing other pathogens and food-safety risks.

Knowledge and Perceived Implementation of Food Safety Risk Analysis Framework in Latin America and the Caribbean Region

2014 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 2098-2105 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. CHERRY ◽  
A. HOFELICH MOHR ◽  
T. LINDSAY ◽  
F. DIEZ-GONZALEZ ◽  
W. HUESTON ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Food Safety Risk ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

Risk analysis is increasingly promoted as a tool to support science-based decisions regarding food safety. An online survey comprising 45 questions was used to gather information on the implementation of food safety risk analysis within the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Professionals working in food safety in academia, government, and private sectors in Latin American and Caribbean countries were contacted by email and surveyed to assess their individual knowledge of risk analysis and perceptions of its implementation in the region. From a total of 279 participants, 97% reported a familiarity with risk analysis concepts; however, fewer than 25% were able to correctly identify its key principles. The reported implementation of risk analysis among the different professional sectors was relatively low (46%). Participants from industries in countries with a long history of trade with the United States and the European Union, such as Mexico, Brazil, and Chile, reported perceptions of a higher degree of risk analysis implementation (56, 50, and 20%, respectively) than those from the rest of the countries, suggesting that commerce may be a driver for achieving higher food safety standards. Disagreement among respondents on the extent of the use of risk analysis in national food safety regulations was common, illustrating a systematic lack of understanding of the current regulatory status of the country. The results of this survey can be used to target further risk analysis training on selected sectors and countries.

Consumer Food Safety Risk Perceptions and Attitudes: Impacts on Beef Consumption across Countries

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted C. Schroeder ◽  
Glynn T. Tonsor ◽  
Joost M.E. Pennings ◽  
James Mintert
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Consumption Behavior ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Agricultural Industries ◽  
Food Safety Risk

Abstract Beef food safety events have contributed to considerable market volatility, produced varied consumer reactions, created policy debates, sparked heated trade disputes, and generally contributed to beef industry frustrations. Utilizing data from a total of 4,005 consumers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan in a Double-Hurdle modeling framework, we examine whether consumers altered their beef consumption behavior because of their risk aversion and risk perceptions stemming from information about beef food safety in recent years. Results reveal stark differences in risk perceptions and risk aversion regarding beef food safety across consumers in the four countries and that these differences are revealed through different beef consumption behavior. An improved understanding of food safety perceptions and attitudes will enable policy makers and agricultural industries to better anticipate consumers changing consumption behavior, if a food safety event occurs. Food safety management strategies vary across countries because of identified differences in food safety risk attitudes and risk perceptions.

scholarly journals Hazards of Risk: Identifying Plausible Community Wildfire Disasters in Low-Frequency Fire Regimes

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 934
Author(s):  
Andy McEvoy ◽  
Becky K. Kerns ◽  
John B. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Wildfire Risk ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Community Exposure ◽  
Risk Reduction Strategies

Optimized wildfire risk reduction strategies are generally not resilient in the event of unanticipated, or very rare events, presenting a hazard in risk assessments which otherwise rely on actuarial, mean-based statistics to characterize risk. This hazard of actuarial approaches to wildfire risk is perhaps particularly evident for infrequent fire regimes such as those in the temperate forests west of the Cascade Range crest in Oregon and Washington, USA (“Westside”), where fire return intervals often exceed 200 years but where fires can be extremely intense and devastating. In this study, we used wildfire simulations and building location data to evaluate community wildfire exposure and identify plausible disasters that are not based on typical mean-based statistical approaches. We compared the location and magnitude of simulated disasters to historical disasters (1984–2020) in order to characterize plausible surprises which could inform future wildfire risk reduction planning. Results indicate that nearly half of communities are vulnerable to a future disaster, that the magnitude of plausible disasters exceeds any recent historical events, and that ignitions on private land are most likely to result in very high community exposure. Our methods, in combination with more typical actuarial characterizations, provide a way to support investment in and communication with communities exposed to low-probability, high-consequence wildfires.

Comparing the Microbiological Status of Pre- and Postharvest Produce from Small Organic Production

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1072-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
AIXIA XU ◽  
DONNA M. PAHL ◽  
ROBERT L. BUCHANAN ◽  
SHIRLEY A. MICALLEF
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Wash Water ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Production Scale ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Leafy Greens ◽  
Postharvest Handling ◽  
Food Safety Risk

Consumption of locally, organically grown produce is increasing in popularity. Organic farms typically produce on a small scale, have limited resources, and adopt low technology harvest and postharvest handling practices. Data on the food safety risk associated with hand harvesting, field packing, and packing-house handling with minimal treatment, at this production scale, are lacking. We followed produce from small organic farms from the field through postharvest handling and packing. Pre- and postharvest produce (177 samples) and water (29 samples) were collected and analyzed quantitatively for Escherichia coli, total coliforms (TC), aerobic bacteria (APC), yeasts, molds (M), and enteric pathogens. No pathogens were recovered. E. coli was detected in 3 (3.6%) of 83 preharvest produce samples, 2 (6.3%) of 32 unwashed and 0 of 42 washed postharvest produce samples, and 10 (34.5%) of 29 water samples. No correlation was found between bacterial levels in irrigation water and those on produce. Postharvest handling without washing was a factor for APC and M counts on tomatoes, with lower frequencies postharvest. Postharvest handling with washing was a factor for leafy greens for TC counts, with higher frequencies postharvest. APC (P = 0.03) and yeast (P = 0.05) counts were higher in preharvest than in unwashed postharvest tomatoes. Washed postharvest leafy greens had higher M counts (P = 0.03) and other washed produce had higher TC counts (P = 0.01) than did their preharvest counterparts. Barriers were found to the use of sanitizer in wash water for leafy greens among small farms using organic practices. Hand harvesting and dry handling did not appear to be associated with a significant food safety risk, but washed leafy greens carried higher levels of some microbial indicators, possibly because of the lack of sanitizer in the wash water. The development of resources and materials customized for this sector of growers could enhance dissemination of information on best practices for handling of leafy greens.

Prevention of Breast Cancer (Part II): Risk Reduction Strategies

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1070-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Tria Tirona ◽  
Rajesh Sehgal ◽  
Oscar Ballester
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Risk Reduction Strategies ◽  
Prevention Of Breast Cancer

Microbiological Safety of Commercial Prime Rib Preparation Methods: Thermal Inactivation of Salmonella in Mechanically Tenderized Rib Eye†

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 2126-2135 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRA CALLE ◽  
ANNA C. S. PORTO-FETT ◽  
BRADLEY A. SHOYER ◽  
JOHN B. LUCHANSKY ◽  
HARSHAVARDHAN THIPPAREDDI
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Thermal Inactivation ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
Safety Risk ◽  
Microbiological Safety ◽  
Pathogen Populations ◽  
Food Safety Risk ◽  
Midwestern City

Boneless beef rib eye roasts were surface inoculated on the fat side with ca. 5.7 log CFU/g of a five-strain cocktail of Salmonella for subsequent searing, cooking, and warm holding using preparation methods practiced by restaurants surveyed in a medium-size Midwestern city. A portion of the inoculated roasts was then passed once through a mechanical blade tenderizer. For both intact and nonintact roasts, searing for 15 min at 260°C resulted in reductions in Salmonella populations of ca. 0.3 to 1.3 log CFU/g. For intact (nontenderized) rib eye roasts, cooking to internal temperatures of 37.8 or 48.9°C resulted in additional reductions of ca. 3.4 log CFU/g. For tenderized (nonintact) rib eye roasts, cooking to internal temperatures of 37.8 or 48.9°C resulted in additional reductions of ca. 3.1 or 3.4 log CFU/g, respectively. Pathogen populations remained relatively unchanged for intact roasts cooked to 37.8 or 48.9°C and for nonintact roasts cooked to 48.9°C when held at 60.0°C for up to 8 h. In contrast, pathogen populations increased ca. 2.0 log CFU/g in nonintact rib eye cooked to 37.8°C when held at 60.0°C for 8 h. Thus, cooking at low temperatures and extended holding at relatively low temperatures as evaluated herein may pose a food safety risk to consumers in terms of inadequate lethality and/or subsequent outgrowth of Salmonella, especially if nonintact rib eye is used in the preparation of prime rib, if on occasion appreciable populations of Salmonella are present in or on the meat, and/or if the meat is not cooked adequately throughout.

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