A Communications Approach for Managing Risk in the Food Chain. J. C. Chartier and S. Gabler, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 59 Camelot Drive, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K1A 0Y9
The environment within which food risks are being managed, is changing and evolving rapidly. Factors such as globalization, technology, the move to increased public participation in government decision making and policy formulation, resource issues and a crisis of confidence, are facing government agencies charged with managing and communicating risk related to food. This paper will review and investigate the forces shaping the development of an effective food safety risk communications strategy in the years ahead. We will set the stage by looking at the emerging new environment within which government must make decisions and formulate policy, including constraints and driving forces. We will then define the regulatory agency environment unique to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The special nature of food and communication of risks related to food will be explored. We will define the challenges of communicating about science within an environment where rapid communications technologies are becoming the norm, and the validity of scientific assessment is being questioned by the public. We will look at uncertainty in science and how it is shaping public policy and risk communications for both government and the public. We will explore the role of the media as well as public values and the public’s perception food safety risks. We will consider the limits and challenges of transparency and finally we will attempt to map out a path which takes the theory around risk communication and operationalizes it to come up with a practical and workable strategy for food risk communications.
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