Ontwikkeling van een emerging risks identificatie systeem : (resultaten 2006 en vervolgactiviteiten in 2007)

Het beleid (Ministerie van LNV) heeft de wens geuit om vroegtijdig nieuwe problemen van voedselveiligheid te kunnen signaleren. Het huidige (4-jarige) Emerging Risks-onderzoek binnen het BO-programma maakt daar onderdeel van uit. In het jaar 2006 is een verdieping verricht naar indicatoren die van belang zijn voor identificatie van potentiële nieuwe en onvoorziene risico’s waarbij de visproductieketen en in het bijzonder de zalmproductieketen als voorbeeld is genomen. Daarnaast is tijdens een mini-conferentie de mening gepeild van en kennis uitgewisseld met experts over early warning systems afkomstig uit Nederland (RIKILT, VWA, RIVM, LEI, AFSG en TNO) en uit het buitenland (DEFRA (UK), EFSA (Italië), ECDC (Zweden) en FAO (Italië). Hierbij is ook gediscussieerd over de rol van de stakeholders en hun percepties met betrekking tot emerging risks. Dit rapport geeft een overzicht van de resultaten van het onderzoek uit 2006 en geeft daarnaast inzicht in de vervolgactiviteiten die in 2007 zijn uitgevoer

Inventory of possible emerging hazards to food safety and an analysis of critical factors

Various recent incidents around food safety issues have led to the establishment of the European Food Safety Authority and its national counterparts in the member states of the European Union. Besides these measures, it is desirable to identify food risks while they are still emerging, i.e. when they still are hazards

Pro-active approaches to the identification of emerging risks in the food chain: Retrospective case studies.

In this report six case studies are carried out on food-safety and animal-health crises that have occurred in the recent past. The aim is to learn from these cases if and how the identification of emerging food-safety (and animal-health) risks can be improved by adopting a (more) pro-active approac

Sub-chronic toxicity study in rats orally exposed to nanostructured silica

Synthetic Amorphous Silica (SAS) is commonly used in food and drugs. Recently, a consumer intake of silica from food was estimated at 9.4 mg/kg bw/day, of which 1.8 mg/kg bw/day was estimated to be in the nano-size range. Food products containing SAS have been shown to contain silica in the nanometer size range (i.e. 5 – 200 nm) up to 43% of the total silica content. Concerns have been raised about the possible adverse effects of chronic exposure to nanostructured silica

The Essential Elements of a Risk Governance Framework for Current and Future Nanotechnologies

Societies worldwide are investing considerable resources into the safe development and use of nanomaterials. Although each of these protective efforts is crucial for governing the risks of nanomaterials, they are insufficient in isolation. What is missing is a more integrative governance approach that goes beyond legislation. Development of this approach must b

Breeding prospects of Lunaria annua L

Abstract Lunaria annua is a biennial cruciferous oil seed crop. The seeds contain 30 -35% oil, which consists of 67% long chain fatty acids (44% erucic acid

Early awareness of emerging risks associated with food and feed production: Synopsis of pertinent work carried out within the SAFE FOODS project

This introduction to the journal¿s supplement on emerging food and feed safety issues summarizes the objectives and activities of the EU-funded SAFE FOODS project in general and its work package focusing on the early identification of emerging food safety risks, in particular. Within this work package, a number of studies have been carried out on methods enabling the early awareness, identification, and prevention of emerging issues before they can become real risks. The various reviews in this supplement explore the background of the emergence of known food safety risks, both of microbial and chemical/biochemical nature, as well the methods that can be used to identify such risks. Another review identifies a number of chemical and microbiological hazards that are likely to be affected by a changing climate. A major conclusion from these explorative reviews is that monitoring and information exchange systems or procedures are in place to detect, in an early phase, the emergence of potential food safety risks linked to known hazards. Additional systems are needed to predict the development of new potential food safety risks, which are linked to either new hazards or known hazards to which exposure has been altere

Indicators of emerging hazards and risks to food safety

There is a widely felt need to develop methods for the early identification of emerging hazards to food safety with the aim of preventing these hazards from becoming real risks and causing incidents. This paper reviews various activities and previous reports that describe methods to select indicators that can be used for the purpose of early identification of hazards. These indicators have been divided over three different environments, including (i) the environment surrounding food production, (ii) the food production chain from farm to fork, and (iii) consumers. Changes in these indicators are signals that may require follow-up action. Besides indicators that are linked to specific kinds of hazards, the indicators used for vulnerability assessment can help identifying weak spots in the food production system that are sensitive to a broader range of hazards. Based on the various indicators for emerging hazards that have thus been identified in literature, a set of generic indicators is provided that can be useful for the early identification of hazards