EFSA calls the guidance “the first of its kind to give practical guidance for addressing potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA; Parma, Italy) today published guidance for assessing the risk of nanomaterials in food and feed products. EFSA calls the guidance “the first of its kind to give practical guidance for addressing potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.”
The document provides guidance on several fronts:
Notably, the guidance also recognizes the uncertainties that currently exist due to any knowledge gaps when it comes to nanotechnology use in food and feed. “A thorough characterization of the engineered nanomaterials followed by adequate toxicity testing is essential for the risk assessment of these applications,” said professor Vittorio Silano, chair of EFSA’s scientific committee. “Yet we recognize uncertainties related to the suitability of certain test methodologies and the availability of data for engineered nanomaterial applications in food and feed.”
EFSA says the guide is practical by providing six scenarios that outline different toxicity testing approaches and indicating the type of testing required. EFSA built its guidance through public consultation as well as more than 256 industry comments received.