Application of risk assessment to food safety decision making

The purpose of this report is to present the scientific basis of risk assessment and to demonstrate that risk assessment can be used to make decisions about the safety of our food supply. The report has been prepared as as resource for those involved in the current discussions in Congress and elsewhere over the policies b by which the safety of the American food supply is evaluated and assured. The document is not intended to present an argument for any particular food safety policy, but rather to address a key scientific tissue that arises in the review of policy options. It distinguishes risk assessment--the scientific process of identifying and evaluating potential risks--from risk management, the separate policy decision regarding what constitutes "safety" or an acceptable degree of risk.