Improved communication about the risks associated with food safety are key to on-going risk analyses within responsible government agencies in order to better protect the public from food-borne illnesess, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Forty participants from 13 countries in the region, representing senior managerial and technical staff from food safety, veterinary and public health institutions with formal mandates in risk analysis functions have wrapped up a three-day technical training course on risk communication.  The participants are now, or will soon become, food safety communication professionals in their respective countries.

“The main goal of food safety risk communication is to increase understanding among various food safety professionals regarding the rationale of decisions taken to assess hazards and manage food safety risks effectively,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative.

“This training programme was designed to help these food safety communicators make more informed judgments about communicating food safety hazards and risks to their appropraite audiences, whether that be within government agencies, from government to private sector or directly to the general public,” Konuma added.

Risk communication, which is an essential part of the risk analysis paradigm, is defined as the exchange of information and opinions concerning risk and risk-related factors among risk assessors, risk managers, consumers and other interested parties.

“It is important to note that governments have a fundamental responsibility for risk communication when managing food safety, regardless of the management methods applied,” Konuma indicated. “With the responsibility for managing risks comes the responsibility to communicate information about those risks to all interested parties at the appropriate level of understanding for each audience – and that means involving relevant parties including the public in communicating analysis.”

The training was led by internationally recognized food safety risk communication specialists from the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore. It was delivered through formal presentations, discussions, examination of case studies, group exercises and role playing.

Some key messages in relation to risk communication included the importance of public perceptions of risk, establishing and maintaining public trust, engaging in stakeholder dialogue, building a cooperative process, proactively engaging with the media, sympathizing with victims and expressing empathy.

The three-day Regional Training on Enhancing Risk Communication Capacity in Food Safety was organized by the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.