A proposed framework for the use of FSOs

This article is based on a background paper prepared for the ILSI Europe workshop on “The impact of Food Safety Objectives on Microbiological Food Safety Management”. It describes the how the concept of “Food Safety Objectives” (FSOs) can be used to target HACCP plans. FSOs describe the level of a hazard at the moment of consumption, they are considered to be “acceptable levels” of pathogens. Control measures applied from farm to fork must assure that such levels are not exceeded. In order to achieve such levels, Performance Criteria (PCs) are set to assure that a certain killing effect of a process or treatment is achieved or that a potential increase in numbers does not result in unacceptable levels of pathogens in a product. For reasons explained in this article, the term Performance Objective (PO) is introduced to designate levels of pathogens at stages in the food chain before the moment of consumption. In order to meet PCs, POs or FSOs, process criteria (such as time and temperature) and product criteria (such as pH and aw) need to be specified in the HACCP plans or in other documents. FSOs and POs are food safety targets and differ as such from Microbiological Criteria which are designed to accept or reject foods based on test results. Examples are given to illustrate that, although some of the terms may be new to certain sectors in the food chain, the concepts have been applied for many years in food processing.