As a result of Operation OPSON 2024—an EU-wide coordinated effort targeting fraudulent and counterfeit foods—22,000 tons of food and 850,000 liters of beverages, totaling €91 million, were removed from the market.
The European Commission’s annual report on EU Member States’ official food safety controls in 2022 highlighted successes, areas for improvement, and challenges.
The European Parliament blocked two European Commission decisions that would have set tolerances for EU-banned pesticides in a range of imported foods.
A recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) project explored new methods to understand the immunotoxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). At the same time, one Swiss canton has called on Parliament to develop a PFAS action plan after finding widespread contamination on farms, and has banned the sale of beef with high levels of the chemical.
The European Commission has published a draft regulation that, if adopted, would require EU Member States to conduct whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis during foodborne illness outbreak investigations involving several important pathogens, and to report the results of WGS analyses.
Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is a highly pervasive type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) in European tap and bottled water and its ubiquitous presence necessitates EU-wide safe drinking water limits, according to a report from Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe).
According to a European Commission (EC) draft document, the responsibility for major parts of EU food safety policy may shift from DG SANTE to other EC departments. EC confirmed the existence of this document but denied its relevance to the future of the EC’s organization.
The EU Heads of Food Safety Agencies (HoA) recently published a list of 117 substances that should be prohibited or restricted in food supplements to protect public health.
The European Commission is taking strides to improve honey authenticity, including setting new origin labeling requirements, and the development of harmonized traceability requirements and improved methods of composition analysis and origin tracing. The Commission is assembling a group of experts called the “Honey Platform” to advise this work and is accepting applications.
