Wednesday, 03 June 2026
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today published a report of its Scientific Committee on risk ranking of microbiological hazards in food.
Microbiological risk ranking is a process carried out in order to understand the relative public health impact of major microbiological hazards in the food chain, and to underpin a risk-based national food safety system. This process enables authorities to set priorities for microbiological food safety management at a national level, and provides evidence to inform decisions on control, prevention and surveillance of microbiological foodborne illness.
In order to prioritise the work of the FSAI, the Scientific Committee was tasked with advising the FSAI on a risk ranking of microbiological hazards in food in Ireland and identifying data gaps that, if filled, would reduce uncertainty in future risk ranking exercises. In this report, the FSAI Scientific Committee presents its first national risk ranking exercise on microbiological hazards in food based on data from 2015-2019.
Seven hazards were selected for inclusion in the scope of the exercise. These were Campylobacter species, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella species, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)/verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV) and norovirus.
This risk ranking exercise provides a preliminary assessment and comparison of the burden of disease for these hazards impacting the public through contaminated food.
It highlights the public health burden caused by pathogens based on a high incidence (norovirus), high severity of outcome (Listeria monocytogenes) or both (Campylobacter species).
This report identifies key limitations and opportunities for improvement in data collection and modelling with regard to foodborne diseases in Ireland.
Addressing these gaps will enhance the accuracy and reliability of future risk ranking exercises.
Despite challenges, the methodologies presented offer a valuable contribution to Ireland’s ongoing efforts to understand the national burden of the hazards addressed.
Microbiological Risk Ranking Report
