Watchdog Group Blasts EFSA for Experts' Conflicts of Interest
Almost 60% of experts sitting on the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) panels have direct or indirect links with industries regulated by the agency, according to an independent screening performed by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and freelance journalist Stéphane Horel.
Their report, entitled “Unhappy Meal. The European Food Safety Authority's independence problem,” identifies significant loopholes in EFSA's independence policy. CEO's report also claims that EFSA's new rules for assessing its experts, implemented in 2012 after several conflicts of interest scandals, have failed to improve the situation.