FAO/WHO Joint Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) turns 20

FAO and WHO have been convening expert meetings and consultations to assess food safety risks for decades – two, to be exact, when it comes to microbiological hazards, such as bacteria, viruses and parasites. Technical experts from different disciplines and different parts of the world gather for the periodic meetings on microbiological risk assessment that are known by the acronym, JEMRA. The meetings are held in response to requests for scientific advice from the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standard-setting body jointly coordinated by FAO and WHO, as well in response to other identified emerging needs.

“Last year, when JEMRA turned 20, we thought it would be interesting to look back where we have been, how the work has been used, and, in today’s transforming agri-food systems, consider where we need to go in the next 20 years,” said Jeffrey LeJeune, Food Safety Officer and FAO lead for the JEMRA Secretariat. “We also wanted take the opportunity to raise awareness of the JEMRA process, encourage experts around the globe to respond to our Calls for Experts and Data, and to acknowledge all the experts who have contributed to the success of the programme,” he said.

Over 370 experts from nearly 60 different countries, representing all FAO and WHO regions, have contributed to the meeting outcomes over the years. Serving in a personal capacity, the experts bring diverse regional and national perspectives that contribute to practical applications, particularly for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

JEMRA meetings are captured in monographs, which are published in the FAO/WHO Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) series and address particular food commodities with microbial hazard(s) combinations or a methodological aspect of microbial risk assessment. The series, which now has nearly 40 volumes, is used by Codex to develop international food safety standards that promote health and facilitate trade. Additionally, risk managers, such as food safety authorities and food business operators, consult the publications to make science-based decisions while academics use them to advance food safety research and educate the next generation of food safety professionals.

Read more:

in the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) journal and on the FAO site

              on the FAO Food Safety and Quality site

              on the WHO site

in an FAO/WHO brochure available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

Access the MRA series by using the dropdown menu here

Watch ‘Scientists of food safety – the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment’