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Monitoring programs for food safety hazards in feed and food are increasingly performed on a risk-basis. Various methods are available to rank hazard-product combinations to be included in risk-based monitoring programs. Such methods have been developed for either feed or food, but until now these do not consider hazards in both feed and food simultaneously. Based on available time, budget and data, two methods, i.e. a scoring method and a risk ratio method, were selected that are capable of incorporating both food and feed products for ranking chemical hazards. These methods were compared by applying a case study on chemical hazards in cereals in the Netherlands for various animals and human age groups, using available data on concentrations, consumption available in national databases and toxicity. Results showed that both methods resulted in the highest ranking for the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, aflatoxin B1 and zearalenone. Maize and wheat products were most frequently included in the top 50 ranked hazard-product combinations. Both methods showed to be capable of ranking hazard-product combinations for various animal and human groups. The risk ratio method provided a more objective and accurate outcome since it is based on actual data. Nevertheless, the risk scoring method may be preferred as it allows more flexibility in type of input data used. Also, it allows for the inclusion of country of origin of the materials used, which is relevant for imported products. This study showed that the risk ratio and the scoring method can successfully be used to rank both food and feed products simultaneously.

Due to the increased popularity of plant-based products, new alternatives for animal-derived products are being developed. Before market introduction, food business operators (FBOs) should identify food safety hazards for these plant-based products to protect consumer health. A wide range of chemical hazards may be present in the ingredients used for these products. Ranking the hazards will help FBOs to focus on the most relevant ones and identify the most optimal recipe for such products. This study provides a two-tiered ranking approach. First, all potential hazards were identified based on their presence in the crop, detection above European Union (EU) legal limits, data gaps, and potential health risks. Second, a risk ratio method was applied for the most relevant hazards based on the chemical hazard in the crop, processing factors to establish (protein) ingredients, consumption data, and health-based guidance values. This structured approach was applied to a case study on plant-based burgers using five example recipes, which showed it was capable of comparing various recipes and indicated an optimal recipe to produce plant-based burgers with minimised food safety risks. As such, it can be used as a safe-by-design approach in the early development of new plant-based alternatives.

In this study, a methodology was developed that can be used as input for risk-based monitoring plans for chemical contaminants in food products. The novel methodology was applied to a case study in which cereals and fish were evaluated simultaneously for the possible presence of mycotoxins and heavy metals. The methodology was based on hazard quotients that were estimated by dividing the daily intake - using concentrations of the contaminants in the different food products and consumption of the respective products combined per product group - by the health based guidance value (HBGV) or reference points used for assessing potential health concerns (RPHC). The most relevant hazard-product combinations were further ranked based on the volume of import of the ingredients, per import country and a defined contaminant prevalence level per country. For fish, the hazard quotients were around ten times lower compared to the highest hazard quotients in cereals. Consumption of molluscs, mackerel-type fish and herring-type fish contaminated with mercury contributed most to the HBGV or RPHC. The top 25 hazard-product combinations for various age groups included: aflatoxin B1 in combination with wheat, rice (products), maize (products), and pasta, zearalenone in combination with wheat (products), T2/HT2-toxin in combination with rice (products), and DON in combination with wheat (products). The methodology presented showed to be useful in identifying the most relevant hazard-food-age group combinations and the most relevant import countries linked to these that should be included in the monitoring. As such, the method can help risk managers in establishing risk-based monitoring programs.

Risk-based monitoring of veterinary drug residues requires a prioritisation based on the potential occurrenceof these residues as well as their human health effects. Previously, decision trees have been drafted to include these elements allowing for a prioritization of substances into low, medium or high priority to be included in the National Residue Control Plan (NRCP). One decision tree focuses on unauthorised substances (group A) and another on authorised substances (group B). These decision trees have been used previouslyto prioritise veterinary drug residues in livestock production animals. The aim of the current research was to rank the substances for products derived from aquaculture, farmed game, rabbits and honey. The latest draft Implementing Regulation available at the time of the research (i.e. SANTE 11987-2017 Rev 9) was used to determine which substance groups for which animal species needed to be included in the NRCP. Available monitoring data from national monitoring, the rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF) andEFSA reports were used as input for the prioritisation. Furthermore, potential use of veterinary drugs was assessed based on regulations in relevant import countries, availability of VMP online and internet research on potential use in the specified animal species (e.g. based on internet fora). The current evaluation revealed that limited monitoring data were available for the animal products studied in comparison to the earlier studied animal species. This resulted in a high number (59% of all substance-animal product combinations)of unauthorised substances prioritised as medium or high for precautionary reasons (marked with a proviso). Likewise, for the authorised substances, the conclusion for many substances (77%) was to perform a survey since data were lacking. For 28% of these substances, internet search indicated a potential use and for 1.5%of these substances non-compliances were found in related species.According to the lates