European Union Safety Authority EFSA

The Pesticide Risk Assessment Peer Review Unit (PRAPeR) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is responsible for the peer review of initial risk assessments of active substances. For each substance, a member state carries out this initial risk assessment, which is presented in a draft assessment report (DAR) that is then peer reviewed by experts across the European Union (EU) in a process... 

Based on the above-mentioned considerations, it is evident that the final goal of the project will be the harmonization of the approach to food safety among the enlarging European Union. A second significant result will be the creation of a European food Safety network, which will continue its activities after the end of the two-year period of the project. The network will work in close relation with the European Food safety Authority (EFSA) and will disseminate information through the website which will be created and implemented in the frame of SAFEFOODNET activities. 

AFL occurrence and concentration data, submitted from 22 European Union (EU) Member States for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) risk assessment requested by the European Commission (EC) in 2006, were available for this evaluation. Australia, Brazil, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America (USA) also submitted data on AFL contamination. In total, the Committee had access to over 100 000 data points for its analyses. Other data on contamination by these toxins have been taken from published literature, but they were not used to calculate dietary exposure because the disaggregated data were not available. Rather, they were used to reinforce the analysis made in the document. 

Health claims are a very convenient tool when it comes to marketing functional foods due to consumers sensitivity to health-related communications. The use of nutrition and health claims on foods in the European Union (EU) was harmonised in 2006 by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (EC, 2006). Only the use of authorised nutrition and health claims is allowed. All health claims require specific authorisation by the European Commission (EC) through the comitology procedure, following the scientific assessment and verification of a claim by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (Pravst, 2012a). 

European Union Register of Feed Additives describes that acetic acid (E260) and its calcium (E263) and sodium salts (sodium diacetate E262) are preservatives for use in all animal species and categories without a time limit and without maximum levels. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an opinion on the safety of calcium acetate added for nutritional purposes to food supplements (EFSA, 2009). 

The European Union (EU) ageneies responsible for the scientific evaluation of the safety of feed additives and veterinary medicinal products are, respectively, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EFSA is advised on scientific aspects of feed additives, including the safety of target species, consumers, users and the environment, by the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances Used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP). Some of the older evaluations of feed additive uses of coccidiostats under Directive 70/524/EEC were performed by the Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition (SCAN), which reported to the European Commission prior to the establishment of EFSA. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) advises the EMA on scientific aspects of veterinary medicines. The distinction between medicinal and feed additive uses is not always clear, as some uses to prevent coccidiosis are considered to be medicinal e.g. use of lasalocid in poultry). 

European Food Safety Authority. 2011. The 2009 European Union Report of Pesticide Residues in Food. EFSA Journal 9(11) 2430. 

In the European Union (EU), the safety of food colorants is evaluated by the EFSA. The results affect all member countries of the EU, while non-EU member states are regulated by their national authorities. 

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