Workshop Riskcommunication Crisis situations

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WorkshopRisk-communication Crisis situations

• Roland Grossgut
• Austrian Agency for Health and Food SafetyHead
  of risk assessment
• roland.grossgut_at_ages.at

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Content

• Basic remarks
• Examples (no real crisis situations)
• Phthalates in food
• Sudan Red I
• Summary

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Basic remarks (I)

• in the workshop was born at the agencies meeting
  in The Hague in December 2004. One of the
  outcomes of this meeting wasThe Czech Republic
  offered to host a workshop prior to the next
  meeting in Bonn to discuss approximately five
  case studies to identify best and worst practices
  in the priority area of risk communication. It is
  proposed to discuss the results of the workshop
  during the meeting in Bonn. Austria and The
  Netherlands willl assist Czech Republic.

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Basic remarks (II)

• Aims of workshop
• discussion of approximately five case studies
• distribution of knowledge and experience
• communication about some cases happened in the
  past
• discussion about lessons learned
• preparation of an outcome of the workshop

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Basic remarks (III)

• Not the aim of the workshop
• duplication of work done by EFSA, the European
  Commission or other similar institutions
• building up a crisis management plan
• Presentation of the outcome of discussionsat
  the next meeting of the heads of the European
  agencies/authoritiesBerlin 24.-25. May 2005

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Examples

• Phthalates in food Home made
• Sudan Red I in Chili foreign made
• General remark most of the cases are not real
  crisis situations, but are an important problem
  for risk communication

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Phthalates in foodhome made

• Roland Grossgut
• AGES Head of risk assessment
• roland.grossgut_at_ages.at

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Phthalates in foodCrisis history (I)

• Cause of the crisis
• January 2005first positive analytical findings
  - Phthalates in (oily) food
• at the moment 60 samples with around 25 positive
  analysis
• Detection of the source of the crisis
• Products in glas jars
• closed with lids with gaskets on basis of PVC
  using phthalates as plasticizer
• contents up to 700 mg Phthalates/kg food

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Phthalates in foodCrisis history (II)

• Establishing of a crisis unitmore than one
  step!
• Contact of laboratory with risk assessment unit
  in AGES
• Risk assessment made by risk assessment unit
• Information and involvement of Federal Ministry
  for Health and Woman
• Discussions and Outcome of discussion in the
  Subcommission Consumer Goods Materials coming
  in contact with food of the Codex Alimentarius
  Austriacus
• Plenum of the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus

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Phthalates in foodCrisis history (III)

• Function and role of the crisis units
• Coordinated work and discussion of the facts
• Updating the facts
• Coordinated discussion with industry and other
  stakeholders
• Institutions involved
• Analysing laboratory
• Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
• Federal Ministry for Health and Women
• Food Industry
• Codex Alimentarius Austriacus

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Phthalates in foodCrisis communication (I)

• institutions (bodies) involved
• Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
• Federal Ministry for Health and Women
• Food Industry
• Codex Alimentarius Austriacus
• European Commission
• European Food Safety Authority (Advisory Forum)

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Phthalates in foodCrisis communication (II)

• participation of NGOs
• Not directly, but using the plenum of Codex
  Alimentarius Austriacus
• how was the communication realised
• with ministry directly
• with industry in meetings
• Letter to European commission
• Letter to EFSA and presentation at EFSA Advisory
  Forum meeting

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Phthalates in foodCrisis communication (III)

• quality of the communication
• Good communication to ministry, EC and EFSA
• Good communication to industry, but we need
  timecommunication not so fast as we wanted
• media involved
• Televison interviewed the laboratory
• more discussion will come up at the end of april
• Questions by a journal of UK (Kate Trollope of
  EU Food Law)

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Phthalates in foodCrisis communication (IV)

• frequency of meetings with media and institutions
  involved
• No meeting with media
• Meetings with institutions (officials) nearly
  weekly
• With industry one basic meeting
• experience gained in crisis communication (both
  positive and negative)
• Risk communication to all partners from the
  beginning is very important
• Use all possible information channels, but do
  this in a coordinated way

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Phthalates in foodOvercoming the Crisis

• waste disposalno waste
• contaminated food and feed disposalchanging food
  in the retail, automatically due to substitution
  of food
• measures taken in contaminated area no
  contaminated area

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Phthalates in food - Overall evaluation of
crisis management

• problems remaining to be solved
• Fade out of contaminated products
• crisis management (plan) functionality
• No real crisis management plans existing very
  urgent need of finishing this work
• co-operation of bodies and institutions involved
• Very good cooperation with national and
  international bodies
• good cooperation with industry because of only
  few media reactions until yet

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Phthalates in food - Overall evaluation of
crisis management

• lessons learned
• create good risk/crisis management plans
  involving all partners from the beginning
• think over issue management for the future
• discuss immediately with stakeholders/industry
• COMMUNICATE AND COMMUNICATE AND COMMUNICATE
  AND

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Sudan Red in Chili-productsforeign made

• Roland Grossgut
• AGES Head of risk assessment
• roland.grossgut_at_ages.at

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Sudan Red in Chili Crisis history (I)

• Cause of the crisis
• Positive findings 2003,
• Routine-Analysis of Sudan Red because of
  recommendation of the EK
• New discussion 2005 because of new findings in
  UK
• Detection of the source of the crisis
• Imported products (chili) into the European Union
• Use of this products, imported before 2003, in
  different processed food (Worchester Sauce)

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Sudan Red in ChiliCrisis history (II)

• Establishing of a crisis unit
• no real crisis unit
• Problem of risk communication
• Function and role of the crisis units
• Institutions involved
• Austrian Agency for Health and Food SafetyRisk
  assessment unitRisk communication unit
• Federal Ministry for Health and Women
• Industry/Retail regarding imported products
  (RASFF)

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Sudan Red in ChiliCrisis communication (I)

• institutions (bodies) involved
• Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
• Federal Ministry for Health and Women
• participation of NGOs
• no
• how was the communication realised
• because of media interest reactive
  risk-communication
• information on www.ages.at

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Sudan Red in ChiliCrisis communication (II)

• quality of the communication
• reactive with the problem of lack of data and
  information, especially due to missing
  possibility getting direct information by
  RASFF-System
• media involved
• print media
• television and radio

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Sudan Red in ChiliCrisis communication (III)

• frequency of meetings with media and institutions
  involved
• no direct meetings with media, all information
  exchange by telefon or electronic media
• experience gained in crisis communication (both
  positive and negative)
• new old emerging risks may be fatal for risk
  communication
• prior information from one agency to another
  would be of advantage
• missing possibility to get direct information
  leads to problems in risk communication

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Sudan Red in ChiliOvercoming the Crisis

• waste disposalno waste
• contaminated food and feed disposalchanging food
  in the retail, automatically due to substitution
  of food
• measures taken in contaminated area no
  contaminated area

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Sudan Red Chili - Overall evaluation of the
crisis management

• problems remaining to be solved
• not for this case, but preparing issue management
• building up information networks (eg. EFSANET)
• co-operation of bodies and institutions involved
• good, but information exchange sometimes to slow
  for medial reactions

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Sudan Red Chili - Overall evaluation of the
crisis management

• lessons learned
• need for issue management
• need for direct information for agencies (risk
  assessment and risk communication units) (eg.
  RASFF)
• prior information to other member states
  agencies, not only by RASFF (information network,
  eg. EFSANET and emerging risks)

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Overall summary

• Roland Grossgut
• AGES-Risk assessment

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Summary (I)

• Lessons learned
• each crisis differs from the other
• issue management may be useful
• immediate discussion with all partners and
  stakeholders/industry absolutely necessary
• warming up old risks without prior
  information of others may be fatal

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Summary (II)

• Recommendations
• possibility for risk assessors and risk
  communicator to get informations out of
  CIRCA-RASFF
• networking between agencies
• building up issue management
• building up functional and tested crisis/risk
  mamangement plans

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Risks may lead to a crisis,but crisis do not
always deal with risks!

• Roland Grossgut
• AGES-Risk assessment