FSQA and FAO synergy on Risk profiling underway

(Wednesday 16th October 2019 Issue)

Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Monday commenced a training on risk profiling.

The objective of the training is to strengthen the capacity of FSQA scientific and inspection officers, officers of relevant regulatory institutions and members of the scientific committee of the authority on the concept and approaches of the process of risk analysis and profiling.

Principal scientific officer for risk profiling at FSQA, Lamin Jaiteh said in terms of food safety regulatory work, all decisions has to be informed by science.

He said food safety risk is a problem in the world and they have to get the science to do the work right. “Without science, we cannot do the work.”

Andreas Kiermeier, a private consultant at FAO said the training is a ground work for the participants to decide whether extra-regulation and food safety risk management is required.

“Participants will construct process flow diagrams and quality products volumes and microbial contamination throughout the exposure pathway(s),” he said.

Andreas said the risk ranger tool will be introduced with the aim of assisting participants develop more refined risk estimates and assist with the identification of critical data gaps. He said the filling of the gaps will be addressed by designing baseline surveys and national food surveillance programs. “Risk profiles are used across the food industry to help assess food safety risks and to provide contextual and background information about the potential risk when a food and hazard are combined,” he said.

According to him, the profiles also assist risk managers to make decisions about further action and regulators to develop requirements for risk-based food control programmes. “The programme is one of the activities of the European Union funded Agriculture for Economic Growth Project also known as the Envelope A project under FAO.”