EFSA Journal最新文献

I'm pleased to introduce the 8th Special Issue of The EFSA Journal dedicated to the EU-FORA Programme – continuing a tradition starting in 2018 of highlighting scientific collaboration and capacity building across Europe. EU-FORA will soon turn 10, and since its inception, it has supported the development of future generations of Europe's experts in food safety and risk assessment.

I would like to finish by extending our sincere thanks to all contributors to the Programme – fellows, supervisors but also the training consortium – for the successful cycle. We applaud our newly graduated fellows and hope they continue inspiring dialogue, innovation and cooperation in the years to come. EFSA is committed to the creation of a European risk assessment community and will continue working towards that objective.

Barbara Gallani

The focus on this EU-FORA fellowship was to develop a qualitative risk assessment with flowchart as way of communicating the risk assessment transparently at each stage including the indication of data uncertainty and variability. Even though qualitative risk assessments are widely used, they do not always include uncertainty and variability and are not always presented in scenarios, as way of transparent communication. As case studies a microbial pathogen and a contaminant were chosen because they exemplify different types of risk. During this fellowship, a qualitative risk assessment flowchart was developed for Trichinella spp. and per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) for consumers of Latvia and Germany, from consuming wild boar meat. For each potential hazard, a literature search was done. For the flowchart, prevalence and concentration for each hazard were estimated, based on available literature. Furthermore, the flowchart was supplemented with additional nodes, that might increase or decrease the risk for the consumer. In the end, two different qualitative risk assessment flowcharts were developed, out of which, the Trichinella spp. risk assessment has been presented in two conferences.

To ensure that ready-to-eat products are safe to eat, it is important to develop new tools to prevent and control bacterial contamination. Risk assessment has been gaining popularity in recent years and provides tools with which we can develop mathematical models for robust food safety management tools for use by health authorities, consumer protection agencies and industry stakeholders This training programme was developed under the EU-FORA programme and had the goal of training a fellow in modern quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) methods through a hands-on approach within the Unit of Microbiology and Risk Assessment at Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena (UPCT). The programme involved working on a case study focused on the microbiological safety of artisanal cheese, covering every step of a QMRA, including hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard characterisation and risk characterisation. The case study was related to listeriosis, which constitutes a significant public health concern. Ready-to-eat foods, such as artisanal cheeses, provide an ideal environment for growth Listeria monocytogenes. The fellow developed skills in microbiological techniques such as preparation of thermal and growth experiments, development of a protocol for preparing artisanal cheeses at laboratory scale, as well as data analysis using the R programming language through the bioinactivation, biogrowth and biorisk packages. Experimental findings demonstrated that thermal treatment of milk at 60°C for 9 min causes more than 6 log-reductions of Listeria below the detection limit, with similar kinetics in cow's and goat's milk. Conversely, storing the finished cheese at elevated temperatures (e.g. above 25°C) was shown to promote Listeria proliferation. This information was combined into kinetic models based on predictive microbiology, and applied in an academic exercise to evaluate the exposure of the consumer to the hazard and to estimate the illness per serving.

Parasites in seafood are a recognised food safety concern worldwide. Anisakiasis is a human disease caused by ingestion of larvae of parasitic nematodes of the genus Anisakis, typically present in raw or undercooked seafood. It is considered a significant emerging foodborne disease and was recently ranked among the top 10 of 24 parasitic foodborne infections in Europe, with a rapidly increasing potential to cause illness. Many clinical cases are often misdiagnosed as other gastrointestinal disorders, leading to misinterpretation of data and likely a substantial underestimation of their true prevalence. The issue is further complicated by a rising number of asymptomatic individuals who develop sensitivity to thermostable Anisakis antigens. These otherwise healthy individuals often show elevated anti-Anisakis IgE antibody levels and may have recovered from a mild or undiagnosed gastric anisakiasis without showing allergic symptoms. Because these cases lack obvious clinical signs, this ‘silent’ form of anisakiasis could affect more than 12% of certain populations and is typically identified only through sero-epidemiological research. Earlier detection approaches, including DNA-based methods such as real-time PCR, demonstrated the potential to identify Anisakis as an allergy-causing agens in marketed seafood. However, these methods had not been validated, and the results, therefore, required cautious interpretation. Here, we present the first validated real-time PCR method designed to improve the detection of Anisakis as an allergy-causing agens and to support more accurate monitoring within the EU seafood market. Additional work to express two known allergic proteins (Ani s 1 and Ani s 7) for immunological testing of hypersensitised patients can open venues for a future complete risk assessment of anisakiasis.

This document was developed within the framework of the EU-FORA fellowship programme, which aims to improve expertise in food risk assessment through training to ensure awareness for future risk analysis needs. The work aimed to study extracts obtained from macroalgae to be used as functional additives and discusses issues related to their efficacy and chemical safety. Macroalgae have promising potential as a source of bioactive compounds for functional foods due to their antioxidant, antimicrobial, neuroprotective and anticancer properties. However, ensuring safety is of paramount importance due to concerns about the presence of endogenous and exogenous contaminants, such as heavy metals, organic pollutants and other elements like arsenic and iodine.

Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the safety and efficacy of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) and its preparation (GuanAMINO®) as zootechnical additives for chickens for fattening, chickens reared for laying, chickens reared for reproduction, turkeys for fattening, turkeys reared for reproduction. The FEEDAP Panel concluded that GAA and its preparation GuanAMINO® are safe for chickens for fattening and reared for laying/reproduction and for turkeys for fattening and reared for reproduction when used up to the maximum proposed use level of 1200 mg guanidinoacetic acid/kg complete feed. The same conclusion applies for its use in water at 600 mg guanidinoacetic acid/L in water for drinking. However, considering the variability in water intake and the fact that no margin of safety was identified for chickens for fattening, attention should be paid to ensure that the exposure via water does not exceed the maximum safe level of the additive when administered via feed. The Panel concluded that the use of the additives under the proposed conditions of use is of no concern for the consumer and the environment. GAA and GuanAMINO® are not irritant to the skin or eyes and are not skin sensitisers. The FEEDAP Panel concludes that GAA and GuanAMINO® do not raise safety concerns for the user. The FEEDAP Panel considers that GAA and GuanAMINO® are efficacious in chickens for fattening, chickens reared for laying/reproduction and turkeys for fattening and reared for reproduction when guanidinoacetic acid is used at the minimum use level of 600 mg/kg complete feed or 300 mg/L water.

Following a request from the European Commission, EFSA was asked to deliver a scientific opinion (safety and efficacy) on the application for the renewal of the authorisation of the of L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate (2b920) as flavouring compound for cats and dogs. The applicant has provided evidence that the additive currently in the market complies with the existing conditions of authorisation. The additive L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate remains safe for cats and dogs under the current conditions of the authorisation. Regarding user safety, the additive should be considered as irritant to skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Any exposure is considered a risk. There is no need to assess the efficacy of the additive in the context of the renewal of the authorisation.

This report summarises the outcomes of avian influenza (AI) surveillance activities conducted in 2024 in the context of the Avian Influenza Data Collection (AIDC), the One Health (OH) initiatives of the EU4Health Programme (EU4H, 2022 co-funded grant agreements on emerging and re-emerging zoonotic pathogens) and the SENTINEL project. Surveillance encompassed poultry, captive and wild birds, and mammals across EU Member States (MSs) and selected non-EU countries. A summary of the outbreaks reported in the Animal Disease Information System (ADIS) is also provided. A total of 276,621 records were submitted under the AIDC by 31 reporting countries, 16,755 under OH and 9804 under SENTINEL. Additionally, 204,851 poultry population records were voluntarily provided. Surveillance was risk-based, aiming to detect highly pathogenic (HPAIV) and low pathogenic influenza A viruses (LPAIV), enhance early warning capacity and improve understanding of zoonotic potential. In poultry, in the context of the AIDC, 27,739 establishments were sampled, yielding 218,667 samples. HPAIV was detected and reported in 107 visits, mainly subtype H5N1 and LPAIV in 53. The highest HPAIV activity occurred in the first quarter. In total, 394 poultry outbreaks were reported in the EU and 66 in non-EU countries through the ADIS. In captive birds, 296 visits were reported via the AIDC, resulting in seven HPAIV and one LPAIV detections. Ninety outbreaks were reported in 12 EU countries and 53 in five non-EU countries through ADIS. In relation to wild birds, samples from 36,668 animals were submitted via the AIDC and 6375 via OH and SENTINEL, yielding a total of 1317 HPAIV detections, primarily in waterfowl. Twenty-three EU countries and eight non-EU countries reported a total of 910 outbreaks through ADIS. Mammal surveillance included 89 AIDC and 8960 OH samples. Four HPAIV detections were reported via AIDC, while additional virological and serological positives, mainly in carnivores, were identified in OH programme.

The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials (FCM) assessed the safety of the recycling process EREMA Vacurema Basic (EU register number RECYC 336). The input is washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes mainly originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, with below 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are heated in a continuous flake reactor (step 2) under vacuum before being extruded. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that step 2 is critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the efficiency are the temperature, the pressure (vacuum) and the residence time. It was demonstrated that this recycling process ensures that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.0481 or 0.0962 μg/kg food, depending on the molar mass of the contaminant substance. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs, including drinking water, and used for long-term storage at room temperature or below, with or without hot-fill. Articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such uses are not covered by this evaluation.

The present work, developed within the EU-FORA fellowship programme, assessed the risk assessment of vegetable by-product extracts as natural alternatives to synthetic preservatives in food formulations. Extracts were obtained from onion peel (Allium cepa L.), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) and kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala), which represent abundant residues with limited commercial value but high potential for valorisation. Suitable extraction techniques were applied to each matrix, and the resulting extracts were characterised through phenolic profiling, antioxidant activity, cytocompatibility and pesticide residue analysis. Onion peel extract was rich in quercetin glycosides and showed strong antioxidant activity, while zucchini and kale extracts contained quercetin or kaempferol derivatives with moderate effects. Cytocompatibility assays demonstrated acceptable safety margins at lower concentrations, though dose-dependent toxicity appeared at higher levels, particularly in hepatic cells. Pesticide residues were mostly absent or present only at trace levels in zucchini and kale extracts. In onion peel extract, hexachlorobenzene and β-HCH were detected, but remained below EU maximum residue limits (MRLs). Overall, the findings suggest that the benefits of these extracts, including preservative potential and sustainable waste valorisation, outweigh the identified risks.