The Power of Prevention Strategies
Robert E. Brackett, Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223
The best strategy for reducing the incidence of foodborne illness is to prevent hazards before they have the opportunity to cause illness. Such a strategy will involve all aspects of food production, processing, and distribution. The employment of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system is an initial and foundational component in assuring the safety of foods. The HACCP system employs identification of hazards, means to control the hazards, and monitoring of the controls. The use of quantitative risk assessment is becoming and will continue to emerge as one of the most important tools in identifying foods and foodborne pathogens of highest priority for regulatory concern and research focus. New pathogen reduction strategies involve modern food processing techniques to reduce or eliminate pathogens. New and innovative techniques such as high pressure processing, pulsed-light and ohmic heating help to maintain quality of foods while eliminating foodborne pathogens. Innovative environmental and microbial monitoring methods such as rapid detection techniques and biosensors can assure that proper sanitation and pathogen reduction technologies maintain food safety. Finally, education is an important component of any prevention strategy to reduce foodborne illness. Agricultural and food processing workers need to be informed of their roll in assuring food safety as well as proper food handling techniques. Efforts should also be made to develop innovative and understandable means to educate consumers regarding their role in minimizing foodborne illness.