Institutional food safety risk communication – A self-evaluation tool and its interpretation

Abstract

Background: Food safety risk communication is part of the risk analysis methodology and plays an important role in the increasingly complex food system. Besides shaping consumer risk awareness, risk perception and risk behaviour, risk communication also affects the reputation of the food safety authorities, being especially important for securing operational stability and budget of the concerned organisations. A recent European study highlighted a high variance in risk communication preparedness of official institutions in EU member countries. Scope and approach: This paper presents a benchmarking instrument, the Self-evaluation Tool for Risk Communication (SET), designed for food safety authorities. SET helps decision-makers to receive a quick assessment of their preparedness level for risk communication by comparing it with international best practices. Key findings and conclusions: SET divides risk communication competencies into three domains: Human capacities, Organisational management, and Risk communication activities. Several elements are assessed in each domain, evaluated on a scale from 0 to 3. The results are delivered instantly, benchmarking the scores in terms of domains and the individual elements. The data wheel visualization highlights strengths and weaknesses and points out logical improvement options for the organisation.