Risk Communication

Course Description

Risk Communication is an interactive exchange of information and opinions about hazards and risk, risk-related factors, and risk perception.

Effective risk communication is essential in today’s complex food safety landscape. This course equips professionals with the tools to engage stakeholders—regulators, industry, consumers, and the media—with clarity, credibility, and confidence.

Through real-world case studies and interactive exercises, participants will learn to:

  • Tailor messages to audience needs and cultural contexts
  • Build and restore trust—even in crisis situations
  • Communicate uncertainty and emerging risks effectively
  • Navigate media engagement, public anxiety, and high-stakes discussionsg
  • Apply core principles of message development, persuasion, and public involvement

Whether you're a scientist, regulator, or industry leader, you'll leave equipped to bridge science and public perception—strengthening trust and supporting informed decision- making.

This course presents the basics of risk communication as it is practiced in the USA with application to food safety.

Prerequisite: While not required, it is recommended that Risk Management be taken prior to taking Risk Communication. This course provides contextual information about risk analysis this is not repeated in this course.

Overview of Topics

Principles of Risk Communication, Knowing your Audience, The Messenger and Risk Communication, Message Development, Channel Choices, Dealing with the Media

  • Defining Risk Communication
  • Risk Communication and Crisis Communication: What is the difference?
  • Persuasion: How we use persuasion as a risk communication goal
  • Audience: The basics of knowing who you are addressing
  • Risk Perceptions: How people perceive risks serves is the basis of their attitude and behavior
  • Involvement
  • Anxiety
  • We all are Risk Communicators
  • Defining Credibility
  • Expertise
  • Communicating Trust
  • The Practical Aspects of Messages
  • Message Maps
  • Message Choices
  • Basics about Journalists

Learning Objectives


  • Understanding the goals of risk communication
  • Differentiating between proactive and reactive risk communication
  • Recognizing communication competence and communicator credibility
  • Understanding how to communicate expertise and trustworthiness
  • Recognizing the importance of nonverbal communication in communicating credibility
  • Understanding the phases of message design and the research that corresponds with each phase
  • Understanding the practical aspects of message design such as message timing and message organization

By the end of the session, you should be able to


  • Distinguish among the common goals of risk communication, their respective assumptions, and why this matters
  • Understand the relationship between emotion and risk perception
  • Recognize the major contextual factors that influence perceived risk
  • Appreciate the importance of “market segmentation” and of understanding the needs of your audiences
  • Describe the characteristics of a good risk communicator
  • Differentiate between proactive and reactive risk communication
  • Understanding how to communicate expertise and trustworthiness
  • Recognizing the importance of nonverbal communication in communicating credibility
  • Understanding the phases of message design and the research that corresponds with each phase
  • Understand the practical aspects of message design such as message timing and message organization

This course meets a requirement of the JIFSAN Core Certificate in Food Safety Risk Analysis.

Register now for Fall 2025