The international risk governance council framework and its application to Listeria monocytogenes in soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk

The International Risk Governance Council (IRGC) developed a Risk Governance Framework whose purpose is to help policy makers, regulators and risk managers both understand the concept of risk governance and apply it to their handling of risks. The Framework allows input from the scientific and public health perspective as well as the less-easily measurable side of freedom of choice. For food, the public wants many choices and less regulation, but at the same time safe products to consume. These ideals are at times in conflict. One example of this is the demand for soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk which may be contaminated with L. monocytogenes or other pathogens. Distinguishing between simple, complex, uncertain and ambiguous risks can help to design a risk management strategy. Public health advocates typically see management of soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk as a simple risk (protection of health), whereas for a small but vociferous proportion of the public sees it more of an uncertain or ambiguous one (choice trumps the slight risk of illness). The implications of five management options for the cheese are discussed. The new Codex Guidelines tend to put these cheeses into Option 1, a strict control on the presence of the pathogen, which will be ignored by the cheese aficionados. Other options are worth exploring to give some more choice but at low risk.