Risk Management of Game From theory to practice

“Game Meat Hygiene in Focus”Brno, Czech Republic, 18th-19th June, 2009

Milorad Radakovic BVSc, Cert VPH(MH), MRCVS

Veterinary Adviser

Food Standards Agency, United Kingdom

FSA FSA -- NonNon--ministerial Government Departmentministerial Government DepartmentWhen? Why? Who?What? How?When? Why? Who?What? How?

open - consumer firstUK’s CCA for food/feed

Local authority

enforcement

FSA Scotland

Aberdeen

FSA Wales

Cardiff

FSA Northern Ireland

Belfast

Dard in licensed premises

Headquarters

London

Meat Hygiene Service

York and throughout GB

Expert committees

ACMSF, ACNFP,SACN

The Board

Chairman, Deputy Chair and 12 other members

Definitions..Regulation (EC) No 178/2002

‘risk’ means a function of the probability of an adverse health effect and the severity of that effect, consequential to that hazard;‘risk management’ means the process, distinct from risk assessment, or weighing policy alternatives in consultation with interested parties, considering risk assessment and other legitimate factors, and, if need be selecting appropriate prevention and control options;

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 defines :‘wild’ ungulates and lagomorphs, as well as other land mammals that are hunted for human consumption and are considered to be wild and are considered to be wild under the applicable law in the Member State concerned, including mammals living in enclosed territory under conditions of freedom similar to those of wild game.’‘farmed’ “farmed ratites and farmed land mammals”

Further definitions .. e.g. incident

‘any event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety or quality of food that require intervention to protect consumers’ interest’

Food Incidents Task Force’ Preventing and responding to Food Incidents – Mar 2007

e.g. impact

‘an effect or influence’One of the ‘Oxford Dictionaries’

and “small/large” wild game etc. etc.

‘Risk’ terminology

Events occur almost certainlyVery high

Occurs very oftenHigh

Occurs regularlyMedium

Rare but does occurLow

Very rare but cannot be excludedVery low

So rare that it does not merit to be considered

Negligible

Examples from (OIE, 2004; EFSA, 2006):

Definitionsin various Dictionaries/Regulations/Directives/Guides etc..

“food”“audit”, “verification” “official control” “i nspection” “approved” “risk analysis/assessment/management/communication” “farmed” “wild” “approved” “registered” “hazards” PTDI, PTWI etc………

• when they suit us

• when they don’t

To define or not define?

Hazards in gamemay be in/on live animals, or in/on meat

Biological (some examples)Salmonella serotypes, Campylobacter spp, Clostridiums species (perfringens), Listeria, EnterohaemoragicEscherichia Coli O157, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Chlamydia, Brucella, Mycobacterium bovis/avium, aflatoxin, some viruses, yeasts, fungi, parasites ( trichinella) etc………

Chemical (some examples)Residues of antimicrobials, antıectoparasıtıcs, pesticides, heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, mercury…),other environmental chemicals (dioxins), hormones or hormone like substances, mycotoxins etc…

Physical Foreign bodies (bone, glass, metal, plastic)

All potential, but which are significant?

Which are realistic? Consequences for public health?

How we know about hazards?

It is not easy – hazards are not visible unless symptoms and/or lesions observed

• Surveillance, Epidemiological reports etc.

How our mind works?How our mind works?• We know• We do not know• We suspect

Be reasonable

“ The reasonable man adapts himself

to suit the world, while the unreasonable

man seeks to adjust the world to suit him.

Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

George Bernard Shaw

Man and Superman

photo from Wikipedia

Hunting

Game handling establishmentsGHE

Approved, Regs 853

Larders,Collection centres

Registered

Butcher shopsRegistered -Regs 852

Final consumers

SupermarketsRegistered

‘Every day’ risk management

Approved food chain1. GHP and HACCP – means procedure (s) based on HACCP principles. Principles – Hazards that must be Prevented Eliminated or Reduced to Acceptable levels2. Official control e.g. inspection

Unapproved food chain?

Hazards and Risks From Wild Game

FSA asked the VLA to make “A Qualitative Risk Assessment”

“Under current UK law, what is the risk to human health (particularly of human infection with a foodborne pathogen) from the handling/consumption of wild game meat and how would the currently proposed EU hygiene proposal affect the risk”

Preliminary risk management activities

Identification and selection of risk

management options

Implementation of risk

management decision

Monitoring and

review

WHO ( FAO) Food safety risk analysis a guide for national authorities – Rome 2006

Generic framework for risk management

• Identify food safety issue• Develop risk profile• Establish goals of risk management• Decide on need for risk assessment• Establish risk assessment policy• Commission risk assessment, if necessary• Consider results of risk assessment• Rank risks, if necessary

Preliminary risk management activities

Ptarmigan

Identification and selection of riskmanagement options

• Identify possible options• Evaluate options• Select preferred option (s)

Implementation of risk management decision

• Validate control (s) where necessary• Implement selected control (s)• Verify implementationMonitoring and review

• Monitor outcomes of control (s)• Review control (s) where indicated

You are here – moving from theory to practice

Perception may be different!• “normal or abnormal”, “fit or unfit”, “safe or not

safe”, “clean or not clean”, “adequate or not adequate”, “risky or not risky”…….

‘Risk management’ – an example from Croatia

• Positive findings of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury) in wild boar and deer in some parts of Croatia

• Perceptions & Evidence

Finding answers to simple questions!One day workshop (multidisciplinary)

Simple logical questions. Some are: • Can the product be sold? Is the problem local?

seasonal? Which products are affected? Who eats the food? Are people ill? or might they become ill? IMMEDIATE ACTION!

• Estimate intake of contaminant? Compare intake with toxicology standard e.g. PTWI

• Who eats contaminated products (adults? children? how much? how often? local populations? hunter’s family?

• National /international trade? etc.etc.

Answers will determine the actions

• IMMEDIATE ACTION

• TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT

• SOLVE THE PROBLEM OR WORK AROUND IT

e.g. Ban Hunting– What times? What area? Which animals? Remove offal, Consumer adviceto reduce consumption or any combinationof the above, or no action required

Which option to use?Which are practical? Is the action proportionate?Costs • to put into practice e.g. testing, inspection,

control• cost to those affected e.g. employment; other

sources of meatConsultation: Is the solution acceptable?• to public• to business• are other options available

Communication is essential

Managing risks in gameguaranteeing “safe food production”

aiming to guarantee “safe food”

Who?Everyone individually from “production to consumption” including legislators, CA, industry, consumers, scientists and jointly (multidisciplinary approach)

When?Whenever dealing with game in the context of environment, hunting, production, distribution and consumption –proactively/reactively

WhereAt each stage of production from environment to consumption

Managing risks in gameguaranteeing “safe food production”

aiming to guarantee “safe food”

How?Acting responsibly i.e. by fulfilling legal and professional obligations whether as FBO or official controller, scientist, communicator etc. Evidence based decisions

Why?We are all consumers- Morally, ethically, legally obliged towards ourselves/family/most vulnerable (children/old/sick/pregnant etc.)

In summary and in simple language

Risk management• cannot be seen in isolation from risk assessment

and risk communication• although formally done by officials it is

everyone’s responsibility from production to consumption

• some commonalities but each case is different

Some challenges- defining and achieving objective (s) by using

understandable language- managing expectations, and many more