Beef

• Public Health Effects of Performance Standards for Ground Beef and Beef Manufacturing Trimmings 
• 2005 Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Update 
• Post-public Comment Model and Supplemental Simulation Results 
• Risk Profile for Pathogenic Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (non-O157 STEC)
• Risk-based Sampling for Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Ground Beef and Beef Trim 

Pork

• Assessment of the Potential Change in Human Risk of Salmonella Illnesses Associated with Modernizing Inspection of Market Hog Slaughter Establishments 
• Assessment of the Potential Change in Human Risk of Salmonella Illnesses Associated with Modernizing Inspection of Market Hog Slaughter Establishments
• Comparative Risk Assessment for Intact (Non-Tenderized) and Non-Intact (Tenderized) Beef 
• Risk Assessment of E. coli O157:H7 in Ground Beef 
• Cancer Risk from Nitrosamines in Pork Bacon

Poultry

• Public Health Effects of Raw Chicken Parts and Comminuted Chicken and Turkey Performance Standards
• Potential Public Health Impact of Salmonella and Campylobacter Performance Guidance for Young Chickens and Turkeys
• FSIS Risk Assessment for Guiding Public Health-Based Poultry Slaughter Inspection 
• Interagency Risk Assessment for the Public Health Impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in Poultry, Shell Eggs, and Egg Products

Ready-to-Eat Meat & Poultry Products

• Interagency Risk Assessment— Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens 
• Comparative Risk Assessment for Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-eat Meat and Poultry Deli Meats 
• Risk Assessment for Clostridium perfringens in Ready-to-Eat and Partially Cooked Meat and Poultry Products 
• Risk Assessment for the Impact of Lethality Standards on Salmonellosis from Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products 
• Quantitative Assessment of the Relative Risk to Public Health from Foodborne Listeria monocytogenes Among Selected Categories of Ready-to-Eat Foods
• Risk Assessment for Listeria monocytogenes in Deli Meat 
• FSIS Risk Assessment for Risk-Based Verification Sampling of Listeria monocytogenes

Shell Eggs & Egg Products

• FDA-FSIS Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment: An Evaluation of Shell Egg Cooling on the Risk of Salmonellosis from Egg Products 
• Risk Assessment for Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs and Salmonella spp. in Egg Products 
• Risk Assessment for Salmonella Enteritidis in Eggs and Egg Products

Siluriformes Fish

• Assessment of the Potential Change in Human Health Risk associated with Applying Inspection to Fish of the order Siluriformes
• Risk Assessment of the Potential Human Health Effect of Applying Continuous Inspection to Catfish

Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline

• Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline: Pathogenic Microorganisms with Focus on Food and Water 
• Federal Register: Docket No. FSIS 2012-0023 

About the Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline
Both USDA/FSIS and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have an established history of conducting human health risk assessments on microbial agents. USDA/FSIS, EPA, and other Federal agencies often conduct microbial risk assessments on similar pathogens albeit in different media and under different scenarios (e.g., food and water). A common approach to conducting these assessments will foster better interaction among participating agencies leading to a more efficient and consistent process.

In order to better harmonize the way agencies conduct their assessments across programs, USDA/FSIS and EPA agreed to initiate a collaborative effort and were joined by scientists from other Federal agencies to develop guidelines to promote greater consistency within the government and provide more transparency to stakeholders and other interested parties. This cross-agency activity generated this Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline. This document discusses the full range of microbial risk assessment topics, e.g., definition of the roles and responsibilities, planning and scoping, the four components of a risk assessment, and sections discussing risk management and communication.

This document reflects the combined experience and expertise of risk assessors from these participating agencies and will promote a consistent approach to conducting microbial risk assessments.

Citation
U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2012). Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline: Pathogenic Organisms with Focus on Food and Water. FSIS Publication No. USDA/FSIS/2012-001; EPA Publication No. EPA/100/J12/001.

Interagency Review
The Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline was developed via a collaborative effort among its participating agencies. During the drafting of the guideline, there were many internal reviews in these agencies. In addition, the draft guideline was circulated for interagency review via the Federal government's Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium (IRAC; http://foodrisk.org/irac/) for a fuller Federal government review. As the final interagency review, the draft guideline was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a formal Federal government review as per the OMB processes in early 2011. Once the OMB review process was complete, the draft document was made publicly available for public comment and external peer review (see below).

Public Comment Period
The draft document (PDF) was released on July 26, 2011 for public comment by the EPA (c.f., Federal Register Volume 76, Number 143 Pages 44586-7).

External Peer Review
The draft document was reviewed by subject matter experts on November 7, 2011. The external peer review was conducted under the auspices of the EPA. Full details, including the peer review report and response to peer reviewers' comments, are found on the EPA website.

Additional Risk Assessment Links

• FoodRisk.ORG
  This clearinghouse offers risk analysis professionals data, tutorials, tools and links to numerous resources, including a list of future research needs identified by FSIS and FDA food safety risk assessments.