Research project
Animal product imports project: public health expert opinion elicitation
An expert opinion elicitation exercise was held in order to assess and categorise the potential public health risk associated with 19 categories of imported Products of Animal Origin (POAO) in terms of relevant microbiological pathogens, biotoxins and chemical contaminants.
Important
Summary
Food products can be categorised (e.g. high, medium, low) based on potential for causing illness or serious harm (i.e. growth or presence of microbial pathogens, presence of chemical contaminants, biotoxins etc). This type of categorisation can be a useful tool for describing the food safety risks associated with different types, or groups, of imported commodities.
An expert knowledge elicitation (EKE) approach was developed by the FSA, aimed to assess and categorise the inherent food product safety risks of different Products Of Animal Origin (POAO) imported in the UK. Experts rated the worst-case likelihood of relevant microbiological pathogens, biotoxins and chemical contaminants being present at levels which are of potential public health concern when eaten in various POAO categories.
This report describes the EKE approach and the estimates and views of the experts, based on the information available to them, at that time.