EFSA Outlines Future Food Safety Risks
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a draft strategic plan on Thursday pinpointing the areas where it foresees food safety issues to arise over the next five years. Nanotechnologies are one of them.
EFSA’s draft Strategic Plan for 2009-2013 includes concerns about the impacts of an increasingly globalised food industry, consumer demand that products are easily accessible year-round and changing consumption patterns from emerging economies.
The strategic plan aims to position EFSA at the forefront of risk assessment methodologies and practices in Europe and internationally. The field of risk assessment is continually evolving. New technologies in food production (such as nanotechnology and cloning) and methodological advances (such as those represented by genomics and proteomics) present new challenges.
In addition, risk assessment practices are diverse across the EU. By embracing the expertise available in national authorities, EFSA will act in concert with Member States to face the new challenges, harmonise risk assessment methodologies and establish itself as the reference point for risk assessment across Europe.
Source: Food Production Daily