The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) provides a generic pre-assessment of the safety of
microorganisms intended for use in the food or feed chains, to support the work of EFSA’s Scientific
Panels. QPS assessment allows a fast track evaluation of strains belonging to QPS taxonomic units
(TUs): species for bacteria, yeast, fungi, protists/microalgae and families for viruses. QPS TUs are
assessed for their body of knowledge and safety. Safety concerns related to a QPS TU are reflected,
when possible, as ‘qualifications’, which should be tested at strain and/or product level. Based on the
possession of potentially harmful traits by some strains, filamentous fungi, bacteriophages, oomycetes,
streptomycetes, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli and Clostridium butyricum are excluded from
the QPS assessment. Between October 2019 and September 2022, 323 notifications of TUs were
received, 217 related to feed additives, 54 to food enzymes, food additives and flavourings, 14 to plant
protection products and 38 to novel foods. The list of QPS-recommended TUs is reviewed every
6 months following an extensive literature search strategy. Only sporadic infections with a few QPS
status TUs in immunosuppressed individuals were identified and the assessment did not change the
QPS status of these TUs. The QPS list has been updated in relation to the most recent taxonomic
insights and the qualifications were revised and streamlined. The qualification ‘absence of
aminoglycoside production ability’ was withdrawn for Bacillus velezensis. Six new TUs received the QPS
status: Bacillus paralicheniformis with the qualification ‘absence of toxigenic activity’ and ‘absence of
bacitracin production ability’; Bacillus circulans with the qualifications for ‘production purposes only’
and ‘absence of cytotoxic activity’; Haematococcus lacustris (synonym Haematococcus pluvialis) and
Ogataea polymorpha, both with the qualification ‘for production purposes only’; Lactiplantibacillus
argentoratensis; Geobacillus thermodenitrificans with the qualification ‘absence of toxigenic activity’.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio