Burden and risk assessment of foodborne parasites

Abstract

Burden and risk assessment play an increasingly important and accepted role in defining control policies for foodborne parasites (FBPs). Burden assessment is a top-down approach, starting from available epidemiological data, while risk assessment is a bottom-up or predictive approach, starting from exposure and dose-response data. Both methods however share a common goal of generating estimates of the health and economic impacts of the concerned hazards. These estimates can be used to generate an evidence-based ranking of the impact of FBPs (i.e. risk ranking) and a baseline against which the effects of interventions can be evaluated. Risk assessment further provides a scientific framework for evaluating the potential effects of intervention measures and, by combining with economic models, the expected efficiency of such measures.