Risk assessment — Food Safety Glossary

Evaluating how likely a food safety hazard is to occur and how serious its consequences would be.

Frequently asked questions

What is a risk assessment in food safety?

It is the evaluation of how likely a hazard is to occur and how serious the resulting harm would be, used to decide which hazards need the most control.

How is risk assessment different from hazard analysis?

Hazard analysis identifies which hazards exist and are significant. Risk assessment weighs the likelihood and severity of those hazards to prioritise how they are controlled.

What two factors make up risk?

The likelihood that a hazard will occur and the severity of the harm it would cause if it did.

Why does serving vulnerable persons raise the risk?

Because the potential severity of harm is greater, so even the same hazard is treated as higher risk and controlled more tightly.

Do small food businesses need to do risk assessment?

Yes, at least informally. Judging which steps are riskiest helps a business focus its controls and monitoring where they matter most.

Hazard analysis HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Control measure Food Safety Standards (Chapter 3) Food Safety Program Food safety glossary Food safety guides
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