After the success of the first Science Meets Policy virtual conference in September 2020 (over 500 participants from 49 countries), EFSA and the European Commission’s Inter-European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs) Working Group on Whole Genome Sequencing are jointly organising the second event in the series. EFSA will host the event in its premises in Parma, Italy on 5 and 6 September 2023.
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Dietary exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) is a health concern for consumers across all age groups, EFSA’s scientific experts have concluded in a new re-evaluation.
In an extensive assessment of the scientific evidence, and after input from a public consultation, EFSA’s experts identified potentially harmful health effects on the immune system.
The European food sector has called for different methods to be used more in scientific and regulatory risk assessments.
FoodDrinkEurope said New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) can improve the relevance of data available for food safety risk assessment and avoids animal use. NAMs are any non-animal based approaches that can help provide toxicological information in chemical hazard assessments.
Comparing foodborne illness rates between countries can be misleading because of differences in methodology and data sources, according to a study.
Foodborne illness estimation models are country-specific, making international comparisons problematic. Some disparities in estimated rates can be attributed to variations in methodology rather than real differences in risk, said scientists.
The number of samples with pesticide residues above the legal limit has gone down in the European Union compared to the year before.
Almost 88,000 samples were collected in Europe in 2021. Overall, 96 percent of them fell within legally permitted levels. Almost 35,000 samples contained residues not exceeding legal limits.
The chicken industry, represented by the Washington D.C.-based National Chicken Council, is letting the world know it has “grave concerns” about USDA’s plans to declare Salmonella an adulterant in frozen, raw, breaded stuffed poultry products.
A series of Salmonella outbreaks in the United Kingdom caused by breaded chicken products from Poland could have affected up to 5,000 people, officials have revealed.
The UK-wide outbreaks resulted in more than 1,000 confirmed illnesses in 2020 and 2021 with potentially as many as 4,000 additional cases which were not confirmed or reported.
After the success of the first Science Meets Policy virtual conference in September 2020 (over 500 participants from 49 countries), EFSA and the European Commission’s Inter-European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs) Working Group on Whole Genome Sequencing are jointly organising the second event in the series. EFSA will host the event in its premises in Parma, Italy on 5 and 6 September 2023.
A Listeria outbreak that affected more than 50 people was the biggest fish-product-related incident in Germany, according to researchers.
The large listeriosis outbreak with 55 cases affected Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Switzerland during 2020 and 2021. Three people died.
Five people died in a recent outbreak in Italy linked to unpasteurized dairy products, according to a study.
Infections were caused by consuming unpasteurized fresh cheese produced from contaminated cow’s milk. The incident was considered to be the largest and most severe outbreak associated with raw milk cheese in Italy, said researchers in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The European Commission has added ethylene oxide to a list of pesticides that should be tested for following the substance being behind thousands of recalls in recent years.
New legislation means European countries must take and test certain food samples for ethylene oxide from 2023 until 2026.
EFSA Traineeship Programme offers you a unique opportunity to join a team of professionals from all over the world working together in an international and multicultural environment on Science, Safe Food and Sustainability projects at the heart of European Food Safety activities.
The Government in the United Kingdom has set out long-delayed plans on how checks on food imports will work.
The draft Border Target Operating Model was developed with the Scottish and Welsh Governments. A six-week consultation period is now open, with the final version being published later this year.
UK exporters to the European Union have faced checks since January 2021, after the UK left Europe.
An updated food recall system in the United Kingdom has improved the situation but there are still areas to develop and things to consider for the future, according to an evaluation.
In 2016 and 2017, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) held a review to improve the way food is recalled. This resulted in changes to the withdrawals and recalls system, including new guidance, a revised point-of-sale notice template for shops, and additional training for food businesses.
A consultation seeking stakeholders’ views on proposed developments for a modernised food hygiene delivery model (FHDM).
This consultation will be of most interest to:
- Competent Authorities - District Councils (DCs)
-food businesses and industry trade bodies
-third-party assurance organisations for food safety
- Professional awarding bodies for environmental health and trading standards professionals
- Trade Unions and expert groups may also have an interest.
DAFM's 2023 Thematic Research Call is now open, with a deadline for submissions of 21 April 2023 (12:00 hrs). In particular Theme V: Safe, Nutritious and Sustainable, Food Processing and Consumption may be of interest to some of you.
This Theme covers:
• Food for Health & Nutrition
• Alternative or Blended Protein Sources
• Nutrition Databases
• Vulnerability Assessment
• Talent Shortages in the Agri-Food, Forest & Bioeconomy Sector
• Reformulation
• Process Innovations
• Food Safety
• Food Loss/Food Waste
And 3 specified topics
• Listeria monocytogenes in food production environment
• Food Safety Culture
• Food Safety in fresh fruit and vegetables
Details of this Call can be found here
Are you preparing your application for membership of EFSA's Scientific Panels or the Scientific Committee?
Do you have any questions regarding the selection procedure, application form or more in general the work of EFSA?
Read the most Frequently Asked Questions and see our Webinar for more information on these topics.
The deadline for sending applications has been extended until 17 April 2023 at 23:59 (local time).
The Food Standards Agency is seeking views on new advice for how and when to apply precautionary allergen labelling (PAL), commonly seen as “may contain” warnings on food packaging.
Under the new advice, and to ensure compliance with food law, food businesses should specify which of the 14 major allergens their PAL refers to – for example, using “may contain peanuts” or “may contain tree nuts” rather than the generic “may contain nuts”.
The European Commission published a report which is the result of a project to collect information on potential fraud risks identified by Member State authorities and control methods to detect fraudulent and deceptive practices in the agri-food chain. This report is expected to be used by Member States’ authorities in charge of official controls since it compiles good practice examples and challenges they face with the implementation of fraud related controls. The document was put together through a series of pilot and fact-finding studies of eight Member States between 2020 and 2022. The document presents challenges, opportunities and good practice examples in relation to the implementation of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Member States’ competent authorities are required to not only detect violations of the rules governing the agri-food chain but also to identify possible intentional violations of those rules, perpetrated through fraudulent or deceptive practices by operators for the purpose of gaining an undue advantage. In 2019, it was estimated that, at global level, food fraud could have an impact of 30 billion€ per year.
Find the report here
There is a health risk from a group of compounds that can form in food during processing, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
EFSA assessed the public health risk related to nitrosamines. Ten nitrosamines in food are carcinogenic, meaning they can cause cancer, and genotoxic, which means they may damage DNA.
