Category: European Food Safety Authority
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EFSA Seeks Public Input on Risk Assessment Guidance for Nanomaterials in Food and Feed
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has requested public comments on its draft “Guidance on risk assessment concerning potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies to food and feed.” The comment period closes February 25, 2011. The draft guidance outlines under what circumstances nanomaterials in food and animal feed should be tested for…
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EFSA Issues Additional Opinions on “Functional Food” Health Claims
In its ongoing review of food product health claims, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has adopted 75 new opinions addressing 808 claims. EFSA’s independent scientists opined that claimed functional-food effects, such as improves the “immune system” or “immune function,” “supports immune defences,” “reduces inflammation,” or “decreases potentially pathogenic gastro-intestinal microorganisms,” were either insufficiently defined…
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Embattled EFSA Chair Vows to Retain Post
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Chair Diana Banati has reportedly dismissed conflict-of-interest allegations arising from her involvement with the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a public health nonprofit whose membership includes academic, government and industry scientists. According to Greens MEP José Bové, Banati failed to disclose her industry ties as an ILSI board member when…
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EFSA Declines to Revise BPA Risk Assessment
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavorings, and processing aids has released its latest risk assessment for bisphenol A, concluding that there was not any “new evidence which would lead them to revise the current Tolerable Daily Intake [TDI] for BPA of 0.05 mg/kg body weight set . .…
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EFSA Reaffirms Safety of Food Derived from Cloned Pigs, Cattle
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a scientific statement reaffirming its 2009 conclusion that “in relation to food safety, there is no indication that differences exist for meat and milk of clones and their progeny compared with those from conventionally bred animals.” The food safety watchdog’s assessment, however, pertains only to pigs and…
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EFSA Studies Carcinogenic Furan in Foods
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an August 2, 2010, report urging member states to increase their monitoring of furan, a compound with aromatic properties that can form in a variety of heat-treated commercial foods and which has purportedly been shown to be carcinogenic in animal experiments. EFSA intends to use the report…
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Scientists Urge EFSA Action Regarding BPA Reduction
Several environmental, health and women’s organizations have called on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to consider “all relevant studies” on bisphenol A (BPA) as the safety watchdog prepares to present its opinion on the chemical next month. Signed by approximately 20 scientific experts and 40 non-governmental organizations, the June 23, 2010, letter states that…
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European Union Allows Madeira to Remain Free of GMOs
The European Union has reportedly allowed Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal located 500 kilometers from the African coast, to prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the archipelago. According to The New York Times, the European Commission “quietly” let the deadline pass for opposing the GMO ban, which Portuguese officials claimed was…