hazard

In food safety, a hazard is anything in food that could potentially cause harm to people. This can be a biological hazard like bacteria, viruses, or parasites; a chemical hazard like pesticides, toxins, or allergens; or a physical hazard like glass, metal, or plastic fragments.

EFSA uses the concept of hazards to identify, assess, and manage risks in the food chain. By understanding which hazards are present and how they might affect consumers, EFSA provides scientific advice to set safety limits, develop regulations, and guide risk management strategies, helping protect public health.

It is important to distinguish hazard from risk: a hazard is the potential to cause harm, while a risk is the likelihood that the harm will actually occur under specific conditions, such as, for example, how much of a contaminant is present in food and how often people consume it. Risk assessment combines knowledge of hazards with exposure data to estimate the potential impact on health.