Which best defines risk in food safety?

• A. The chance of taste
• B. The cost of ingredients
• C. The time to prepare
• D. The combination of the likelihood of harm with its severity

Answer: (D)

In food safety, risk is determined by combining how likely a hazard is to cause harm with how severe that harm could be. In other words, risk comes from both the chance of exposure to the hazard (probability of harm occurring) and the seriousness of the potential illness or injury (severity of harm). This is why a hazard that is very likely to cause only mild illness, or a hazard that is unlikely to cause severe harm, can have a different level of risk than something with a high chance of severe harm.

For example, a pathogen that’s commonly present in food and can cause serious illness represents a high risk because both the likelihood of exposure and the severity of the outcome are significant. Conversely, factors like taste, cost, or time to prepare don’t measure the chance or severity of harm and therefore aren’t measures of risk in food safety.