Organizational reputation and risk regulation: The effect of reputational threats on agency scientific outputs

This article aims to explain the variation in the scientific risk assessments conducted by two regulatory agencies: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES). To explain the merits of scientific risk assessments that have caused polarization within the EU, this article draws on bureaucratic reputation theory. The theory argues that regulators are political organizations that are active in protecting their unique organizational reputations. The findings obtained from interviews, direct observations, and primary documents yield support for this framework: depending on reputational threats, agencies choose to emphasize either their role as guardians of the prevailing social values, or send strong professional signals by delivering a scientifically rigorous risk assessment.The politics and administration of institutional chang

A walk in the PARC:developing and implementing 21st century chemical risk assessment in Europe

Current approaches for the assessment of environmental and human health risks due to exposure to chemical substances have served their purpose reasonably well. Nevertheless, the systems in place for different uses of chemicals are faced with various challenges, ranging from a growing number of chemicals to changes in the types of chemicals and materials produced. This has triggered global awareness of the need for a paradigm shift, which in turn has led to the publication of new concepts for chemical risk assessment and explorations of how to translate these concepts into pragmatic approaches. As a result, next-generation risk assessment (NGRA) is generally seen as the way forward. However, incorporating new scientific insights and innovative approaches into hazard and exposure assessments in such a way that regulatory needs are adequately met has appeared to be challenging. The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) has been designed to address various challenges associated with innovating chemical risk assessment. Its overall goal is to consolidate and strengthen the European research and innovation capacity for chemical risk assessment to protect human health and the environment. With around 200 participating organisations from all over Europe, including three European agencies, and a total budget of over 400 million euro, PARC is one of the largest projects of its kind. It has a duration of seven years and is coordinated by ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety

Pathogens-in-Foods database: A web application for assessing the occurrence data of microbiological hazards in foods marketed in Europe

Pathogens-in-Foods (PIF) is a dynamic database constructed using systematic literature searches of occurrence data (prevalence and enumeration) of important pathogenic agents (Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolitica, Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis E virus and Norovirus) in foods randomly surveyed across Europe. After filtering the primary studies, these were screened for relevance and methodological quality, and the data were extracted into the PIF database following a systematic categorisation of microbiological methods, food types and outcomes. The database is freely accessible through a web application that facilitates data retrieval according to several relevant variables. The PIF spans data published from 2000 onwards and is intended for use by researchers and food authorities after meta-analysis, in microbiological risk assessment.This research was funded by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), Grant Agreement ANSES/IPB Nº2021-CRD-03 and by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Grant Agreement GP/EFSA/BIOHAW/2022/01 (since 1 September 2022). The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021). Gonzales-Barron acknowledges the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the Institutional Scientific Employment Programme contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Vector-borne disease surveillance in livestock populations: A critical review of literature recommendations and implemented surveillance (BTV-8) in five European countries

Preparedness against vector-borne threats depends on the existence of a long-term, sustainable surveillance of vector-borne disease and their relevant vectors. This work reviewed the availability of such surveillance systems in five European countries (Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom, part of the CoVetLab network). A qualitative assessment was then performed focusing on surveillance directed particularly to BTV-8. Information regarding surveillance activities were reviewed for the years 2008 and 2012. The results were then complemented with a critical scoping review of the literature aimed at identifying disease surveillance strategies and methods that are currently suggested as best suited to target vector-borne diseases in order to guide future development of surveillance in the countries in question. Passive surveillance was found to be efficient for early detection of diseases during the early phase of introduction into a free country. However, its value diminished once the disease has been established in a territory. Detection of emerging diseases was found to be very context and area specific, and thus active surveillance designs need to take the available epidemiological, ecological and entomological information into account. This was demonstrated by the effectiveness of the bulk milk surveillance in detecting the first case in Sweden, highlighting the need for output based standards to allow the most effective, context dependent, surveillance strategies to be used. Preparedness was of fundamental importance in determining the timeliness of detection and control in each country and that this in turn was heavily influenced by knowledge of emerging diseases in neighboring countries. Therefore it is crucial to share information on outbreaks between researchers and decision-makers and across borders continuously in order to react timely in case of an outbreak. Furthermore, timely reaction to an outbreak was heavily influenced by availability of control measures (vaccines), which is also strengthened if knowledge is shared quickly between countries. The assessment of the bluetongue surveillance in the affected countries showed that the degree of voluntary engagement varied, and that it is important to engage the publicby general awareness and dissemination of results. The degree of engagement will also aid in establishing a passive surveillance system

Socioeconomic Indicators Are Independently Associated with Nutrient Intake in French Adults: A DEDIPAC Study

Studies have suggested differential associations of specific indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP) with nutrient intake and a cumulative effect of these indicators on diet. We investigated the independent association of SEP indicators (education, income, occupation) with nutrient intake and their effect modification. This cross-sectional analysis included 91,900 French adults from the NutriNet-Santé cohort. Nutrient intake was estimated using three 24-h records. We investigated associations between the three SEP factors and nutrient intake using sex-stratified analysis of covariance, adjusted for age and energy intake, and associations between income and nutrient intake stratified by education and occupation. Low educated participants had higher protein and cholesterol intakes and lower fibre, vitamin C and beta-carotene intakes. Low income individuals had higher complex carbohydrate intakes, and lower magnesium, potassium, folate and vitamin C intakes. Intakes of vitamin D and alcohol were lower in low occupation individuals. Higher income was associated with higher intakes of fibre, protein, magnesium, potassium, beta-carotene, and folate among low educated persons only, highlighting effect modification. Lower SEP, particularly low education, was associated with lower intakes of nutrients required for a healthy diet. Each SEP indicator was associated with specific differences in nutrient intake suggesting that they underpin different social processes