Identification of risk factors to be considered for food establishments’ risk assessment models

Abstract The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), as part of the modernization of its inspection system, is developing a risk assessment model with the goal of evaluating the most important food safety-related risk factors associated with the various types of food establishments under its jurisdiction. Ultimately, this new risk assessment model will assist CFIA in allocating its inspection resources according to the level of risk associated with each establishment. As a first step, key risk factors need to be identified. The objective of the current study was thus to identify and evaluate the importance of food safety-related risk factors that could be included in a risk assessment model. An initial literature search was used to identify these risk factors. Thereafter, 75 Canadian food safety experts were asked to assess the relative importance of the 155 identified risk factors with respect to food safety. This step was carried out using a web-based questionnaire in which risk factors had to be assessed by experts using a ten-point Likert-type scale. One risk factor (“management commitment”) received a median score of 10, while median score of 9, 8.5 and 8, and below 8 were attributed to 42, 77 and 35 of the risk factors listed, respectively. A company's commitment towards food safety was identified as an important risk factor contributing to the magnitude of the risk attributed to a food establishment. Many factors related to the performance of an establishment's preventive control plans were also scored high by experts, such as sanitation, hygiene practices, calibration and employee training. The median interquartile range in risk factor scoring generally did not exceed 2, and the respondent profile (work experience, employer and/or commodity-based expertise) did not have a strong influence on score results based on Kruskal–Wallis tests. This observation suggests that, despite their different backgrounds, experts’ opinions were relatively consistent and comparable when scoring the impact of various risk factors towards food safety. These survey outcomes represent useful information to aid in the design and implementation of risk assessment models for food establishments.