3. The identification of future risks to the safety of foods with emphasis on game meat

Early identification or prediction of food safety incidents is fundamental to the implementation of timely, proportionate and decisive corrective and preventive actions to protect consumers. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is looking at how one can use the data available to make predictions about emerging food safety risks that we may face. By sharing this information and working better with key stakeholders, we are developing a more innovative and proactive approach to food safety risk management. FSA’s emerging risk programme has been established to provide a co-ordinated approach to the collation and analysis of intelligence relating to food safety and is helping us to develop a clearer picture of when, why and how food safety issues develop. The analyses are being used to identify new and re-emerging risks to food safety thereby providing: (1) an early warning system for future food safety risks; (2) intelligence-led sampling plans supporting the agency’s enforcement activities; (3) targeted research and surveillance activities to fill gaps in food safety knowledge; (4) support to policy making in the UK and across the EU; and, finally (5) support to key agency initiatives including our food-borne disease and imported foods strategies. This paper describes FSA’s overall approach and how it can be applied to game meat with a view to identify potential vulnerabilities in this food chain thereby enabling suitable preventive actions to be taken. Consideration is given to vulnerabilities from both naturally occurring and accidental contamination as well as deliberate contamination resulting from financial extortion or ideological gain.