EFSA Outlines Scientific Priorities Ahead of Its 2027 Strategy

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an editorial setting out the scientific capabilities it says it needs to keep pace with food innovation, policy change, and demand for faster risk assessments.¹ The paper, approved September 11, 2026, is intended to inform the agency’s next strategy, which is scheduled to launch at a September 2027 conference.

What Six Areas Does EFSA Cover?

The editorial groups EFSA’s needs into six interconnected pathways: innovation and competitiveness, methodological and technical advances, sustainability and One Health, preparedness and rapid response, risk communication and social science, and artificial intelligence (AI) and data. The authors say the pathways are not ranked by priority and are not necessarily exhaustive.

“Scientific excellence and regulatory readiness will depend on sustained R&I in methods, data infrastructure, specialist expertise, capacity building, partnerships and research engagement,” the authors conclude in the paper. “Integrating these capabilities will enable faster, more consistent and anticipatory scientific advice while preserving scientific rigor, transparency and public trust across an increasingly complex European food safety system.”

What Does EFSA Say About Novel Foods and Ingredients?

Among the areas where EFSA reports gaps in preparedness, the paper lists novel bio-based production technologies, such as cell culture-derived foods, precision fermentation, and plant molecular farming, as well as new food products and nutrient sources enabled by AI, omics, and synthetic biology.

The editorial notes that proposed EU legislation, including a Biotech Act and a food and feed safety omnibus package, could expand EFSA’s remit. Provisions include scientific pre-submission advice, regulatory sandboxes for testing innovative products, and an extension of EFSA’s mandate on nutrition.

The paper also addresses ultra-processed foods. It states that no EU regulatory framework or EFSA mandate currently exists for them, but that the agency is monitoring policy discussions in case it receives future requests for advice.

How Does EFSA Plan to Use AI?

EFSA describes a move from document-based assessments to a human-led, AI-enabled model. AI tools could retrieve, structure, compare, draft, and flag information, the authors write, but would not replace scientific judgment or authority, the authors state.

The editorial envisions dossiers arriving as structured data packages that can be checked automatically for completeness and consistency. It also suggests AI could support pre-submission advice for applicants.

The paper also included a statement from Nikolaus Kriz, executive director of EFSA, upon his appointment to the role in September 2025: “My top priorities are to deliver high-quality scientific advice more quickly; to harness digital technologies and artificial intelligence for more streamlined risk assessments and enhanced data processing capabilities; and to strengthen the important partnerships we have with EU institutions, Member States, sister agencies, academia and civil society.”

What Did EFSA’s 2025 Paper Cover?

An earlier EFSA editorial, approved April 8, 2025, outlined research needs in omics, the gut microbiome, new approach methodologies (NAMs), allergenicity risk assessment, aggregate exposure, and environmental risk assessment.²

On omics, the 2025 paper said adoption beyond genomics remains limited by a lack of standardization, difficulty integrating large data sets, and few case studies. On the gut microbiome, it identified gaps in understanding how chemicals interact with gut microbes, in biomarkers of adverse effects, and in real-world evidence linking exposure to health outcomes. It also said regulatory data requirements that still mandate in vivo testing hinder wider use of NAMs.

The 2026 paper carries several of these themes forward. It says animal studies, at least for subchronic toxicity, will remain necessary until NAM testing batteries mature, and that progress has been slow for complex functions such as neurodevelopment, immune function, and metabolic disorders. It also lists microbiome methods, including metagenomics for characterizing complex microbial mixtures as regulated products, and allergenicity among its cross-cutting priorities.

References

1. European Food Safety Authority. EFSA needs for scientific excellence and regulatory readiness. EFSA J. 2026;24(9):e240901. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2026.e240901
2. European Food Safety Authority. Advancing EFSA’s regulatory science: updated research and innovation needs. EFSA J. 2025;23:e220401. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2025.e220401