ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters of this book document some important shifts that have occurred over the past 20 years in how food safety experts think about achieving food safety. These include the much-expanded focus on microbial hazards in the food supply, the increasing use of risk assessment and risk analysis in food safety decision making, and a new emphasis on prevention of foodborne hazards and illnesses. These shifts are grounded in an improved understanding of the health consequences of foodborne hazards and associated costs, the emergence of new technologies to enhance food safety, and a corresponding public demand for continuous improvement in the food safety performance of government, as well as the performance of private sector food producers, processors, and retailers.
