Food Safety Risk Assessment Training (Microbiological Focus)

Description of the Food safety risk assessment training

This Food safety risk assessment training is designed for African governments, national agencies, and their partners who want to build strong, practical capacity in microbiological risk assessment.

The course focuses on microbiological hazards in foods common in Africa, such as meat, poultry, dairy, fresh produce, and street foods. It follows FAO/WHO food safety risk assessment principles and the Codex risk analysis framework, and it shows how to use risk assessment results to support national food safety policies, inspection, and surveillance.

Participants learn how to:

• Define clear risk questions that match national priorities.
• Structure and carry out a food microbiology risk assessment.
• Use local and regional data (or work with limited data) in a transparent way.

The main emphasis is on microbiological risk assessment training. Short sessions on chemical risk assessment are included only to clarify the key differences in approach, data needs, and outputs. This helps teams understand how to adjust methods when they deal with different types of hazards.

Teaching methods include short presentations, African case studies, and group exercises. Example scenarios may cover pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, or E. coli in foods that are important in African trade, nutrition, and public health. Participants practice working as a national team, just as they would in real risk assessment projects.

This Food safety risk assessment training is different from risk ranking and prioritization training (MCDA). The ranking course focuses on comparing many hazards and control options across the system. This risk assessment course focuses on how to assess in detail the risk from specific food–pathogen combinations.

By the end, participants are ready to contribute to national and regional risk assessments that support Codex work, trade negotiations, donor‑funded programs, and country food safety strategies

What You’ll Learn in the Food safety risk assessment training

After completing this Food safety risk assessment training, participants will be able to:

• Explain the role of risk assessment within the Codex food safety risk assessment and risk analysis framework.
• Describe and apply the four steps of microbiological risk assessment:
  • Hazard identification
  • Hazard characterization
  • Exposure assessment
  • Risk characterization
• Formulate clear risk questions that match African country contexts (hazard, food, population, outcome, time frame).
• Identify and organize relevant data sources in Africa (surveillance, outbreaks, consumption, lab data, research, regional studies).
• Conduct qualitative and semi‑quantitative food microbiology risk assessments for priority food–pathogen pairs.
• Build simple exposure scenarios for key pathogens and estimate relative levels of risk.
• Document assumptions, variability, and uncertainty in a transparent and reproducible way.
• Use structured expert judgment when country data are limited or incomplete.
• Describe the main differences between microbiological and chemical risk assessment (for example, metrics, dose–response, exposure, and health outcomes).
• Prepare clear messages, visuals, and short briefs so that risk managers, policy makers, and donors can use the results.

Training Agenda Snapshot

How This Course Complements Risk Ranking and Prioritization

For African governments and donors, two capacities are often needed:

1. Detailed risk assessment of priority hazards and foods.
2. Risk ranking and prioritization (MCDA) to decide where to invest resources.

This Food safety risk assessment training provides capacity for detailed analysis of specific food–hazard problems. It focuses on methods, data, and scientific reasoning.

Your separate Food Safety Risk Ranking and Prioritization (MCDA) training provides capacity to:

• Compare many problems or interventions
• Include feasibility, cost, equity, and readiness
• Make system‑wide decisions on where to focus investments

Together, these two courses offer African governments and development partners a complete, practical package: from scientific assessment to strategic prioritization.

Who Should Attend the food safety risk assessment training

This food safety risk assessment course is ideal for:

• Officials from national food safety authorities and competent authorities in Africa.
• Risk assessors, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and public health professionals working with foodborne disease data.
• Risk managers, regulators, and inspectors who use risk assessment outputs to target controls.
• Laboratory leads, data managers, and surveillance coordinators who support risk assessment work.
• Staff from regional economic communities, donors, and development partners who design or fund risk‑based food safety projects.
• Academic and research partners supporting governments in FAO/WHO food safety risk assessment activities.

Certification

Participants receive a Certificate of Completion of the Food Safety Risk Assessment Training, recognizing their capacity to contribute to microbiological (and basic chemical) food safety risk assessments, in line with Codex food safety risk assessment principles and FAO/WHO guidance.

This certification can support:

• Institutional capacity‑building plans
• Donor‑funded project requirements
• Regional and continental food safety initiatives

Key References for the Training

The content of this training is aligned with key FAO/WHO and Codex documents used worldwide, including in African countries:

Core Risk Analysis and Microbiological Risk Assessment

• FAO/WHO. 2006. Food Safety Risk Analysis: A Guide for National Food Safety Authorities.
  Main reference for the risk analysis framework and for integrating risk assessment into national food control systems.

• FAO/WHO. 2021. Microbiological Risk Assessment – Guidance for Food.
  Primary technical reference for microbiological food safety risk assessment, used as the main basis for the course.

• FAO/WHO Microbiological Risk Assessment Series (selected volumes), such as:

  • Risk Assessment of Salmonella in Eggs and Broiler Chickens
  • Risk Assessment of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready‑to‑Eat Foods
    These documents are used in the training as examples of complete microbiological risk assessments.

Chemical Risk Assessment (for Comparison)

• FAO/WHO. 2009. Principles and Methods for the Risk Assessment of Chemicals in Food. Environmental Health Criteria 240.
  Used in the training to explain how chemical risk assessment differs from microbiological risk assessment in terms of dose–response, exposure metrics, and outputs.

Codex Risk Analysis Framework and Standards

• Codex Alimentarius Commission. Working Principles for Risk Analysis for Application in the Framework of the Codex Alimentarius (CAC/GL 62-2007, and updates).
  Core Codex text guiding risk analysis; forms the backbone of the course structure.

• Relevant Codex standards and codes of practice for selected food–hazard combinations used in the African case studies.
  These show how Codex Food safety risk assessment training supports real decisions on standards, controls, and trade.

Participants receive a reference list and, where possible, links to these documents for further reading and country use.

Request for information

Are you a government authority, regional body, or donor interested in building food safety risk assessment capacity in Africa?

Use the form below to request:

• A detailed agenda tailored to your country or program
• Options for in‑person or virtual delivery (English or French)
• Information on how this Food safety risk assessment training can be combined with the Risk Ranking and Prioritization (MCDA) Training for a full capacity‑building package