Vulnerability Assessment in the Food Chain - A Way to Do It
2012
Buschulte, A. | Müller-Wahl, B. | Käsbohrer, A. | Appel, B.
The food chain is regarded as a possible target for bioterrorism attacks and the intentional contamination of food may pose a serious public health threat. Whereas Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles and good hygiene practice is well established by the food business operators, a system which assesses the risk of malicious contamination of food within the food chain is not available in Germany yet. The main objective of our work is the development of a vulnerability assessment tool which helps to identify the most vulnerable points in a process chain and gives recommendations to reduce them. In order to do this we evaluated the existing CARVER-system. During the translation process the content was adapted to German requirements. Particular attention has been laid to German legal and practical conditions. Legally inadmissible contents have been removed or adapted to German conditions. After adaption of the CARVER-system to the national needs the system was applied in selected meat processing companies. The gained experiences were used to evaluate the system, check its practicability and to improve the usability for the potential user. The CARVER-system serves already as a useful software tool to assess vulnerable points in the food supply chain. It enables the companies to identify their most vulnerable points for bioterrorist attacks and to focus on protecting these. Nevertheless the system still needs substantial adaptations to German needs. Then it may become a quite relevant vulnerability assessment tool.
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