EFSA Committee Adopts Definition of Emerging Risks

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Scientific Committee has adopted a definition of Emerging Risks in its July plenary meeting and will be adopted in activities that start in the fall of 2007. EFSA says that "An emerging risk to human, animal and/or plant health is understood as a risk resulting from a newly identified hazard to which a significant exposure may occur or from an unexpected new or increased significant exposure and/or susceptibility to a known hazard".

Examples of emerging risks in relation to the areas covered by the EFSA’s mandate include  new research data indicating previously unknown toxic properties of substances occurring in food or feed; and new plant production methods as well as new biotechnological techniques that may promote new (unexpected) or re-occurring stress related natural toxins in plants and plant products.

EFSA says that an assessment of emerging risk is characterized by the early detection of facts related to that risk derived either from research and/or from monitoring programs or episodic observations. The evidence supporting the identification of an emerging risk should preferably be in the form of an “indicator” (e.g. measurement and/or observation) and of a trend over time or space.

See the full article from EFSA at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/science/sc_commitee/sc_documents/sc_definition_emerging_risks.html