Microbiological safety of poultry meat: Risk assessment as a way forward

Microbiological risk assessment (MRA) is now a key feature in the world-wide management of food safety risks, including those associated with poultry meat. This paper presents a review of MRA from the perspective of poultry meat. The methodology is outlined and key issues such as uncertainty, model complexity and model validation are highlighted. To demonstrate the use of the tool, a MRA for campylobacter infection within Great Britain (GB) is summarised and example results are presented. Presentation of the model demonstrates the way in which MRAs can be usedto investigate the effects of risk mitigation strategies and identify data gaps. It is anticipated that this presentation, together with the overview of the general methodological issues, will promote an increasing understanding of the technique amongst those that have a concern in the control of campylobacter in poultry, for example, producers, microbiologists and risk managers.