Food Protection Trends - November 2011 - (Page 708)

John H. Silliker LectuRe Reducing the Foodborne Disease Burden Focusing on Risk assessment, Food Safety objectives and analytical needs? National Food Institute Technical University of Denmark Jorgen Schlundt microbiological contaminants. Chemical contaminants, such as fungal toxins or acrylamide, need to be dealt with in a sequential manner, reducing the levels over time to improve health. The novelty of the risk analysis concept is that risks are assessed throughout the food chain on the basis of sound science, by combining qualitative and quantitative data in the areas of epidemiology and pathogenicity of microorganisms with data from disease surveillance and food monitoring. It is likely that future surveillance of microbiological foodborne disease will increasingly be based on molecular and gene sequence based subtyping, enabling the identification of widespread outbreaks not recognized previously. ABSTRACT Food safety has implications for both the health of individuals and the economic development of societies. Although most countries have had functioning food safety systems for many years, foodborne disease continues to be a major public health issue. Although food safety systems have not succeeded completely in disease prevention, recent decades have seen significant new developments in food production and control philosophies aimed at improvement of the efficiency of food safety systems in many countries. However, future decades will most likely see even more dramatic changes in this area. New approaches will be anchored in the risk analysis framework, using risk assessments based on relevant scientific data. Such data are likely to be significantly different from traditional control data and will thus present us with different analytical needs, most likely including needs for very specific identification systems working in real-time settings. Coherent, science-based strategies will enable action plans to lower the prevalence of relevant hazards (e.g., pathogens) in animals and/or food. Lowering the concentration or the prevalence of these pathogens should be governed by food safety objectives, enabling a continuous reduction of problems over time. Chemical hazards are increasingly comparable with such INTRODUCTION Foodborne disease continues to be a major public health issue. Food safety and foodborne diseases have implications for both the health of individuals and the development of societies. In recognition of the fact that food safety systems have not succeeded completely in disease prevention, recent decades have seen new developments in food production and control philosophies aimed at an improvement of the efficiency of food safety systems in many countries. This follows from the understanding that food safety is an essential public health function and that inequality in food safety protection between developing and industrialized countries as well as within countries, should be of concern to all. The influence of new, more intensive animal production systems relative on the above mentioned trend in foodborne diseases is difficult to assess. However, it is clear that although intensive systems can contribute to the problems, such systems can also help prevent problems. Intensive animal production systems can introduce monitoring systems (or use existing systems, e.g., at the slaughterhouse level) with a view to introducing specific interventions to lower the pathogen prevalence in food. Setting targets for such lowering is likely to be a very important driver in food production, including animal food production, in the future. 708 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2011

Food Protection Trends - November 2011
Contents
Sustaining Members
Food for Thought from Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
A Comparison of Overall Versus Duty-specific Food Poisoning Prevention Knowledge among Restaurant Food Handlers
Relationship between Cleaning Practices and Microbiological Contamination in Domestic Kitchens
IAFP 2011 in Review
Award Winners
bioMérieux Industry – Black Pearl Award Winner
Ivan Parkin Lecture – Roger Cook
John H. Silliker Lecture – Jorgen Schlundt
Travel Award for State or Local Health or State Agricultural Department Employees
Student Travel Scholarships
Session Summaries
Executive Board Meeting Topics
Minutes of the 2011 Annual Business Meeting
Committee Minutes
Executive Board Response to Committee Recommendations
Silent Auction R esults
Exhibitors of IAFP 2011
IAFP 2012 Award Nominations
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - November 2011