EFSA has just republished a call for tender “Monitoring and Surveillance Data for Future Chemical Risk Assessment Needs in EFSA: Exploring New opportunities”.

The project aims to:
• identify and prioritise EFSA’s data needs for advancing human health risk assessment, animal health risk assessment and environmental risk assessment of chemicals
• identify, and map relevant data sources
• provide recommendations for data access and generation

Maximum budget for the direct contract during the 24 months is 300,000 €.
Deadline for receipt of offers: 09/05/2023 at 14:30 UTC+02:00.

The tender specifications and relevant documents are available here
You can also find the EFSA post on LinkedIn: here

The European Commission has tightened the rules on the presence of arsenic in food products.

The allowed concentration of inorganic arsenic in white rice is lowered, while there are new limits for arsenic in some rice-based food items, infant formula, baby foods, fruit juices, and salt.

Arsenic is present at low concentrations in rocks, soil, and natural groundwater, with food and drinking water being the principal routes of human exposure. The inorganic forms of arsenic are more toxic than organic arsenic.

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Resistance of Salmonella and Campylobacter to commonly used antimicrobials is frequently observed in humans and animals, reveals a report issued today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, simultaneous resistance to critically important antimicrobials for humans was generally detected at low levels, except for some Salmonella types and Campylobacter coli in several countries.

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The latest data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of bacteria from humans, animals, and food shows there is still plenty of room for improvement in Europe.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said resistance of Salmonella and Campylobacter to commonly used antimicrobials is frequent in humans.

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A public-private consortium has been created to investigate the potential food safety and quality issues posed by microbial contaminants in plant-based food products.

Partners in the project will look at microbes that are common in plant-based ingredients, their ability to survive processing, and the risk of growth and toxin production in foods containing such ingredients.

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Most food companies feel leaving the European Union has affected operations while many said COVID-19 didn’t impact their ability to meet regulatory requirements, according to a survey.

The poll, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), included 400 businesses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus interviews with 60 companies. Work took place between June and August 2022.

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People in Germany often eat raw or unheated food and are not fully aware of the related risks, according to a survey.

Findings come from a special edition of the consumer monitor by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) that focused on raw foods.

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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a call for scientific experts wishing to become members of its Scientific Panels and Scientific Committee in 2024. The members of the Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels of EFSA are appointed for a five-year term. This call for expressions of interest is open from 1 February to 3 April 2023.

If you are interested in applying, please visit the EFSA website for more information.

EFSA website here

The latest wave of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Food and You 2 survey, conducted between April and July 2022, shows that most people surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had made changes to their eating habits in the last year, with financial reasons being the biggest driver.

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Health officials have been unable to find the source of a Salmonella outbreak that affected almost 30 people in Ireland and England.

The outbreak, which saw 11 people hospitalized, has been declared over by authorities.

Symptom onset ranged between Nov. 30, 2022, and Jan. 13, 2023, peaking on Dec. 7. Patients lived in multiple areas on the island of Ireland. Fourteen patients were male and 13 were female. Most were adults, ranging from 25 to 91 years old, and two were under the age of 18. The median age of cases was 57 years old.

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Residues of veterinary drugs and other substances found in animals and animal products have fallen in the European Union, according to recently published statistics.

Data from the annual report for 2021, published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), includes pigs, sheep, poultry, milk, eggs, game meat, and honey.

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The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) was involved in another two E. coli outbreaks in the United Kingdom in the final quarter of 2022.

In the first, APHA helped Public Health Wales investigate two human cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O145 linked to a private collection of animals on a smallholding. Multiple species were onsite including cattle, goats, deer, and pigs. Some food consumed by people was grown in the garden where cattle manure was used. Thirty environmental fecal samples were collected but a match to the outbreak strain was not found.

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A global ‘chocolate disaster’ involving Kinder eggs that had been contaminated by salmonella was averted by vigorous tracing, according to a leading expert.

Over 450 people in 17 countries – including 16 people in Ireland – were infected in the outbreak last year.

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The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) are looking for experts to contribute to work related to viruses in foods.

They are also asking governments, industry, academia, consumer groups, laboratories, and other interested organizations and individuals to submit relevant data and information.

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EFSA’s Scientific Committee and Panels are comprised of highly qualified, independent scientific experts committed to conducting scientific assessments and developing related assessment methodologies. Membership of these Panels/Committee is renewed every five years, with the next renewal in July 2024.

EFSA is currently seeking expressions of interest from scientific experts in various fields.

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A long-awaited report on decisions taken at the latest Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting has finally been published.

The United Nations food standards body met in Rome in November 2022. Codex is an initiative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The delay was because of the number of comments received on the draft report and ensuring that members accepted the final version. It is the second year in succession that the report adoption process overran but was still unable to conclude.

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Guidance from the Food Standards Agency helped local authorities handle food-related work during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an assessment.

In June 2021, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) provided local authorities with a plan for running food hygiene and food standards services during the pandemic. It will apply until the end of March 2023, when decisions are made about proposed new delivery models for food hygiene and standards.

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The number of people sick in a Salmonella outbreak in Sweden traced to eggs has gone up again to nearly 80.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten) said 76 people were sick, which is up from 48 in a previous update.

Patients from 16 different regions have been confirmed as infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.

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Following a Public Appointments Service campaign, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly T.D., has appointed the following members to the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland with effect from 16th of January 2023 until 15th of January 2026.

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The number of food safety incidents involving a global network declined in the final quarter of 2022 according to a new report.

The International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) was part of 47 alerts from October through December compared to 58 in the third quarter of 2022.

In the whole year, the network was involved in 198 incidents. This is down from 248 events in 2021 but up compared to 127 in 2020 and 84 in 2019.

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