Microbiological safety standards and public health goals to reduce foodborne disease

Even though microbiological standards have been promulgated for many decades, their utility has sometimes been questioned, and this is one reason that performance standards associated with programs like HACCP in processing plants and now in other food industries have been espoused. The public has an increasing concern over food safety and perceives a zero tolerance policy (i.e. no pathogens in a sample of food) and strict enforcement with punitive consequences for failure to comply is the answer to making food safer. At present, there is no clear connection between government policy and a reduction in foodborne illness. Although national disease statistics may show gradual declines over long periods for some pathogens associated with food, other problems, including new pathogens, tend to emerge. International bodies and some governments, however, are increasingly considering adopting a risk-based approach to managing a food supply, with the potential for introducing the Acceptable Level of Protection (ALOP) and Food Safety Objectives (FSOs) concepts. These make it possible to see a connection between a goal for disease reduction and what industry must do to accomplish this with specific objectives through performance standards and microbiological testing. However, it may not be easy to apply this approach for all types of industries and pathogens and in developing countries.