Meeting abstract
https://doi.org/10.31727/m.27.6.3
Risk ranking of food related hazards – a tool to enhance the efficiency of food safety official controls
Dražen Knežević
; Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu, Centar za sigurnost hrane, Osijek, Hrvatska
*
Martina Jurković
; Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu, Centar za sigurnost hrane, Osijek, Hrvatska
Sanja Miloš
; Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu, Centar za sigurnost hrane, Osijek, Hrvatska
Danijela Stražanac
; Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu, Centar za sigurnost hrane, Osijek, Hrvatska
Vlatka Buzjak Služek
; Hrvatska agencija za poljoprivredu i hranu, Centar za sigurnost hrane, Osijek, Hrvatska
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The Food Safety Centre of the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food has analysed the requirements set out in Delegated Regulation 2022/931 and Implementing Regulation 2022/932 and concluded that in order to further improve the development of official control programmes and plans and the monitoring of the occurrence of chemical contaminants in food, it is necessary to develop and implement a unique “risk ranking” methodological approach for chemical contaminants in food. The risk ranking aims to provide scientific support to the authorities responsible for the development and implementation of official food control plans in the efficient and effective allocation of available resources and to redirect focus to areas of greatest concern. In addition, the aim of the risk ranking of chemical substances in food is to identify chemical substances and food categories for which more data needs to be collected at the national level, so that a priority order for the collection of data on their occurrence can be developed for them as well. The methodological approach to ranking the risk of chemical contaminants in food involves the use of four-year data on the occurrence of chemical contaminants in food sampled during the implementation of the official control programs, data on the toxicity of chemical substances from the OpenFoodTox database of the European Food Safety Agency, and data on the dietary habits of Croatian citizens, obtained from HAPIH's national survey on dietary habits. The risk ranking methodology includes two methodological approaches: risk ranking according to the type of contaminant and risk ranking according to special combinations of contaminants or groups of contaminants and groups of products/food. The results of the risk ranking implementation show that there are possibilities to improve the process of creating national official control plans and sampling strategies in terms of more efficient distribution of financial, time and human resources, by redirecting a certain number of samples related to special combinations of contaminants or groups of contaminants and groups of products to other special combinations of contaminants or groups of contaminants and groups of products that are sampled. The risk ranking methodological approach significantly improves the national food safety system, and thus the protection of life and health of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
risk ranking, official controls, food safety
Hrčak ID:
340765
URI
Publication date:
14.12.2025.
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