Critical review of methods for risk ranking of food-related hazards, based on risks for human health

ABSTRACT This study aimed to critically review methods for ranking risks related to food safety and dietary hazards on the basis of their anticipated human health impacts. A literature review was performed to identify and characterize methods for risk ranking from the fields of food, environmental science and socio-economic sciences. The review used a predefined search protocol, and covered the bibliographic databases Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Web of Sciences, and PubMed over the period 1993–2013. All references deemed relevant, on the basis of predefined evaluation criteria, were included in the review, and the risk ranking method characterized. The methods were then clustered—based on their characteristics—into eleven method categories. These categories included: risk assessment, comparative risk assessment, risk ratio method, scoring method, cost of illness, health adjusted life years (HALY), multi-criteria decision analysis, risk matrix, flow charts/decision trees, stated preference techniques and expert synthesis. Method categories were described by their characteristics, weaknesses and strengths, data resources, and fields of applications. It was concluded there is no single best method for risk ranking. The method to be used should be selected on the basis of risk manager/assessor requirements, data availability, and the characteristics of the method. Recommendations for future use and application are provided.

[1]  Jürgen Rehm,et al.  Comparative risk assessment of carcinogens in alcoholic beverages using the margin of exposure approach , 2012, International journal of cancer.

[2]  J. Mbabazi,et al.  Principles and Methods for the Risk Assessment of Chemicals in Food , 2011 .

[3]  Bernd Münier,et al.  Conscious worst case definition for risk assessment, part II: a methodological case study for pesticide risk assessment. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[4]  John Moffet.  Environmental priority setting based on comparative risk and public input , 1996 .

[5]  G M Paoli,et al.  Development of a risk-ranking framework to evaluate potential high-threat microorganisms, toxins, and chemicals in food. , 2009, Journal of food science.

[6]  Joint Fao,et al.  Codex Alimentarius Commission procedural manual , 1968 .

[7]  Paul S. Fischbeck,et al.  Judgment-based risk ranking for food safety. , 2005 .

[8]  S. Hoffmann,et al.  Food safety policy and economics: a review of the literature. , 2010 .

[9]  Tosihiro Oka,et al.  Ranking the risks of 12 major environmental pollutants that occur in Japan. , 2003, Chemosphere.

[10]  Tanya Roberts,et al.  The value to consumers of reducing foodborne risks. , 2005 .

[11]  K D C Stärk,et al.  Policy-driven development of cost-effective, risk-based surveillance strategies. , 2012, Preventive veterinary medicine.

[12]  Alan D. Lopez,et al.  A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 , 2012, The Lancet.

[13]  Antonio Finizio,et al.  Harmonised pesticide risk trend indicator for food (HAPERITIF): The methodological approach. , 2006, Pest management science.

[14]  S. Hoffmann.  Food Safety Policy and Economics , 2010 .

[15]  Linda J. Keeling,et al.  Scientific Opinion on the public health hazards to be covered by inspection of meat (swine) , 2011 .

[16]  Ralf Wilhelm,et al.  BioOK - a Comprehensive System for Analysis and Risk Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants , 2011 .

[17]  L. Alban,et al.  Evaluation of the antibacterial residue surveillance programme in Danish pigs using Bayesian methods. , 2012, Preventive veterinary medicine.

[18]  Sandra Hoffmann,et al.  Ranking the Risks: The 10 PaThogen-Food CombinaTions WiTh The greaTesT burden on PubliC healTh , 2011 .

[19]  A G Renwick,et al.  Risk assessment of dietary exposures to compounds that are genotoxic and carcinogenic--an overview. , 2008, Toxicology letters.

[20]  Organización Mundial de la Salud.  Microbiological hazards in fresh leafy vegetables and herbs: meeting report , 2008 .

[21]  P. Cressey,et al.  Risk Ranking for Foodborne Microbial Hazards in New Zealand: Burden of Disease Estimates , 2010, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[22]  H. J. van der Fels-Klerx,et al.  Risk ranking of chemical hazards in food - A case study on antibiotics in the Netherlands , 2013 .

[23]  Alistair B A Boxall,et al.  Prioritization of pesticide environmental transformation products in drinking water supplies. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[24]  Tanya Roberts,et al.  Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Pathogen Reduction , 1999 .

[25]  Peter Nijkamp,et al.  Managing pesticide risks for non-target ecosystems with pesticide risk indicators: a multi-criteria approach , 2006 .

[26]  H. J. van der Fels-Klerx,et al.  Overview of available methods for Risk Based Control within the European Union , 2012 .

[27]  Alan D. Lopez,et al.  A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 , 2012, The Lancet.

[28]  B Fischhoff,et al.  A Deliberative Method for Ranking Risks (I): Overview and Test Bed Development , 2001, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[29]  Xuanli Liu,et al.  Influence of Salmonella in pigs preharvest and during pork processing on human health costs and risks from pork. , 2005, Journal of food protection.

[30]  Loren D Knopper,et al.  Comparison of a score-based approach with risk-based ranking of in-use agricultural pesticides in Canada to aquatic receptors. , 2008, Integrated environmental assessment and management.

[31]  J. Dabrowski,et al.  Prioritizing agricultural pesticides used in South Africa based on their environmental mobility and potential human health effects. , 2014, Environment international.

[32]  Fabrice Carrat,et al.  Risk perception and priority setting for intervention among hepatitis C virus and environmental risks: a cross-sectional survey in the Cairo community , 2010, BMC public health.

[33]  Young Woo Kim,et al.  Human Risk Assessment of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Derived from Plastic Food Containers , 2012 .

[34]  Patrick Hofstetter,et al.  Selecting Human Health Metrics for Environmental Decision‐Support Tools , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[35]  Thomas E. McKone,et al.  Decision Tree Method for the Classification of Chemical Pollutants: Incorporation of Across-Chemical Variability and Within-Chemical Uncertainty , 1998 .

[36]  Silvia Torresan,et al.  Development of a site-specific ecological risk assessment for contaminated sites: part I. A multi-criteria based system for the selection of ecotoxicological tests and ecological observations. , 2007, The Science of the total environment.

[37]  Moez Sanaa,et al.  Efficiency of risk-based vs . random sampling for the monitoring of tetracycline residues in slaughtered calves in Switzerland , 2008, Food additives & contaminants. Part A, Chemistry, analysis, control, exposure & risk assessment.

[38]  PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONDUCT OF MICROBIOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT CAC/GL-30 (1999) , 2001 .

[39]  D. Mozaffarian,et al.  Estimating the global and regional burden of suboptimal nutrition on chronic disease: methods and inputs to the analysis , 2012, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[40]  Jurgen E. Chardon,et al.  A swift Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (sQMRA) tool , 2010 .

[41]  J. Harrington,et al.  Research priorities in occupational medicine: a survey of United Kingdom medical opinion by the Delphi technique. , 1994, Occupational and environmental medicine.

[42]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Assessing Human Health Response in Life Cycle Assessment Using ED10s and DALYs: Part 2—Noncancer Effects , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[43]  Piia Taxell,et al.  Methodology for National Risk Analysis and Prioritization of Toxic Industrial Chemicals , 2013, Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A.

[44]  Enda Cummins,et al.  A Quantitative Approach for Ranking Human Health Risks from Pesticides in Irish Groundwater , 2012 .

[45]  Aamir Fazil,et al.  A Multifactorial Risk Prioritization Framework for Foodborne Pathogens , 2010, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[46]  John Sumner,et al.  A simple, spreadsheet-based, food safety risk assessment tool. , 2002, International journal of food microbiology.

[47]  H. J. van der Fels-Klerx,et al.  Critical review of methods for risk ranking of food-related hazards, based on risks for human health , 2018, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition.

[48]  Mangen Mjj,et al.  Estimating the current and future burden of communicable diseases in the European Union and EEA/EFTA , 2014 .

[49]  Roger M. Cooke,et al.  Prioritizing Emerging Zoonoses in The Netherlands , 2010, PloS one.

[50]  James M. MacDonald,et al.  Bacterial Foodborne Disease: Medical Costs and Productivity Losses , 2012 .

[51]  Wout Slob,et al.  Risk assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations intended for use in food and food supplements: emerging issues. , 2008, Toxicology letters.

[52]  Morten Raun Mørkbak,et al.  The Impact of Information on Consumer Preferences for Different Animal Food Production Methods , 2009 .

[54]  Tine Hald,et al.  Integrated Approaches for the Public Health Prioritization of Foodborne and Zoonotic Pathogens , 2010, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[55]  Herman Goossens,et al.  Spatially explicit prioritization of human antibiotics and antineoplastics in Europe. , 2013, Environment international.

[56]  Régis Pouillot,et al.  Predictive microbiology models vs. modeling microbial growth within Listeria monocytogenes risk assessment: what parameters matter and why. , 2011, Food microbiology.

[57]  G. Rowe,et al.  A Typology of Public Engagement Mechanisms , 2005 .

[58]  Henri P Bietlot,et al.  Risk assessment and risk management at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA): a perspective on the monitoring of foods for chemical residues. , 2012, Drug testing and analysis.

[59]  Donna Mergler,et al.  Pesticide prioritization for a case-control study on childhood leukemia in Costa Rica: a simple stepwise approach. , 2005, Environmental research.

[60]  Lesa L. Aylward,et al.  Evaluation of Biomonitoring Data from the CDC National Exposure Report in a Risk Assessment Context: Perspectives across Chemicals , 2012, Environmental health perspectives.

[61]  Zijian Wang,et al.  Review of Screening Systems for Prioritizing Chemical Substances , 2013 .

[62]  Lee-Ann Jaykus,et al.  Pathogen-produce pair attribution risk ranking tool to prioritize fresh produce commodity and pathogen combinations for further evaluation (P3ARRT) , 2011 .

[63]  S M Gendel,et al.  Approaches to risk assessment in food allergy: report from a workshop ''developing a framework for assessing the risk from allergenic foods". , 2009, Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association.

[64]  M. Bouwknegt,et al.  Disease burden of food-related pathogens in the Netherlands, 2011 , 2013 .

[65]  H Greim,et al.  Classification of carcinogenic chemicals in the work area by the German MAK Commission: current examples for the new categories. , 2001, Toxicology.

[66]  P. Swuste,et al.  Evaluating the Control Banding Nanotool: a qualitative risk assessment method for controlling nanoparticle exposures , 2009 .

[67]  L. J. Penrose,et al.  Rating index as a basis for decision making on pesticide use reduction and for accreditation of fruit produced under integrated pest management , 1994 .

[68]  Mark A J Huijbregts,et al.  PestScreen: a screening approach for scoring and ranking pesticides by their environmental and toxicological concern. , 2007, Environment international.

[69]  J. Garrett Morris,et al.  Ranking the disease burden of 14 pathogens in food sources in the United States using attribution data from outbreak investigations and expert elicitation. , 2012, Journal of food protection.

[70]  Sir,et al.  Our food, our health - Healthy diet and safe food in the Netherlands , 2006 .

[71]  Gábor L. Lövei,et al.  Application of Systematic Review Methodology to Food and Feed Safety Assessments to Support Decision Making , 2010 .

[72]  O. Jolliet,et al.  Assessing Human Health Response in Life Cycle Assessment Using ED10s and DALYs: Part 1—Cancer Effects , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[73]  P. Abelson.  The economic cost of foodborne disease in New Zealand Prepared for : NEW ZEALAND FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY November 2010 , 2010 .

[74]  J. Hammitt,et al.  Diminishing Willingness to Pay per Quality‐Adjusted Life Year: Valuing Acute Foodborne Illness , 2011, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[75]  Régis Pouillot,et al.  FDA-iRISK--a comparative risk assessment system for evaluating and ranking food-hazard pairs: case studies on microbial hazards. , 2013, Journal of food protection.

[76]  Mgb,et al.  Priority setting of foodborne pathogens: disease burden and costs of selected enteric pathogens , 2006 .

[77]  Ine H J Van der Fels-Klerx,et al.  Elicitation of Quantitative Data from a Heterogeneous Expert Panel: Formal Process and Application in Animal Health , 2002, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[78]  Michiel Rutgers,et al.  Development of a site-specific Ecological Risk Assessment for contaminated sites: part II. A multi-criteria based system for the selection of bioavailability assessment tools. , 2007, The Science of the total environment.

[79]  Khara D Grieger,et al.  Conscious worst case definition for risk assessment, part I: a knowledge mapping approach for defining most critical risk factors in integrative risk management of chemicals and nanomaterials. , 2010, The Science of the total environment.

[80]  Andreas Luch,et al.  Nanomaterials: a challenge for toxicological risk assessment? , 2012, Experientia supplementum.

[81]  A Fazil,et al.  Choices, choices: the application of multi-criteria decision analysis to a food safety decision-making problem. , 2008, Journal of food protection.

[82]  E. Cummins,et al.  A Risk Assessment Framework for Assessing Metallic Nanomaterials of Environmental Concern: Aquatic Exposure and Behavior , 2011, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[83]  D. Mozaffarian,et al.  The Preventable Causes of Death in the United States: Comparative Risk Assessment of Dietary, Lifestyle, and Metabolic Risk Factors , 2009, PLoS medicine.

[84]  Guy Howard,et al.  Disease burden estimation to support policy decision-making and research prioritization for arsenic mitigation. , 2007, Journal of water and health.

[85]  Ortwin Renn,et al.  Potential methods and approaches to assess social impacts associated with food safety issues , 2010 .