The European Food Safety Authority has issued several opinions, in keeping with its Farm to Fork Strategy, that provide guidance on compliance when transporting animals to food processing facilities and slaughterhouses. The opinions identify possible hazards to animal welfare in transport and provide information on combating disease or other disorders that would threaten animal welfare. Types of animals covered by the opinions include cattle; pigs; domestic birds and rabbits; sheep and goats; and horses and donkeys.
Tag Archives EFSA
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has completed a "comprehensive safety assessment of sugars in the diet and their potential links to health problems." The assessment aimed to set a tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars, but the panel was unable to reach a conclusion. According to the assessment's plain language summary, "the risk of adverse health effects (responses) increased across the whole range of observed intake levels (doses) in a constant (linear) manner, i.e. the higher the intake, the greater the risk of adverse effects." The announcement indicated that the wide-ranging assessment may allow researchers to set a tolerable upper intake level following future studies. One panelists reportedly stated, "We screened over 30,000 publications so we have identified several areas to target for researchers and technicians. The pooling and reuse of individual human data from research studies would be a valuable source of information. Research should focus both…
Several advocacy groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Consumer Reports and Environmental Working Group, have filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "requesting that the agency remove its approvals of the use of bisphenol A [BPA] . . . because recently published scientific studies show that the exposure from those food additive uses is not safe." The groups cite a reevaluation of BPA effects conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and published in December 2021 that "unanimously concluded that 'there is a health concern from dietary BPA exposure for all age groups.'" "Given the magnitude of the overexposure, we request an expedited review by FDA of the food additive petition because the proposed amendments to the agency’s rule are intended to significantly increase the safety of the food supply," the petition asserts. "Not only will it dramatically decrease exposure to a toxin – BPA –…
The European Food Safety Authority has issued scientific guidance on the inclusion of smoke flavoring in food products. The guidance includes notes on the characterization of the flavoring, proposed uses, exposure assessments and safety data. Smoke flavoring has increasingly been a target of putative class actions in the United States, including lawsuits targeting smoked gouda and smoked provolone.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released its assessment of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—a group of chemicals that can be found in food and food packaging—and their potential risks to human health. The agency has set the threshold for a group tolerable weekly intake of 4.4 nanograms per kilogram of body weight. EFSA noted that its 2018 assessment considered an increase in cholesterol as the main critical effect of PFAS, but the experts in the 2020 assessment "considered the decreased response of the immune system to vaccination to be the most critical human health effect."
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is accepting comments on draft dietary reference values for sodium and chloride. The draft values deem 2 grams of sodium and 3.1 grams of chloride per day to be “safe and adequate, considering evidence on the risk of cardiovascular disease on the one hand and nutrition adequacy on the other.” EFSA will accept comments until May 7, 2019.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released a report on risks associated with consuming crickets. The report finds that crickets contain high microbial loads because the entire insect—"including their guts"—is eaten, but food-borne bacteria infections are rare, though they may occur during processing. Crickets can also be host to mycotoxin-producing fungi that cannot be controlled with heat processing, the researchers report. Heavy metal accumulation and allergenicity were determined to be medium hazards, while viral or parasitic infections were considered low-risk.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released a scientific report identifying potential areas of improvement in the agency’s emerging risks identification procedure. The report highlights “weaknesses with respect to data collection, analysis and integration” and suggests that broader analyses would improve the system. Recommendations include (i) integrating social sciences “to improve understanding of interactions and dynamics,” (ii) improving data processing pipelines and (iii) enhancing transparency and improving communication.
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Fraunhofer Nanotechnology and Food Chain Management alliances have organized a two-day public event on March 5-6, 2015, in Berlin to discuss a range of risk-related issues related to the use of nanomaterials. Symposium topics will include (i) European Food Safety Agency guidance on nanomaterials, (ii) the NanoDefine project, (iii) migration potential of nanomaterials in food contact plastics, (iv) inhalation toxicology, and (v) public acceptance of nanotechnology. Charged with “providing information on possible, identified and assessed risks which foods, substances and products may entail for consumers,” BfR reports to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Issue 553
