Risk Assessment

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Providing food manufacturers with a standardized methodology for determining whether precautionary allergen labeling is appropriate for their products, the Allergen Bureau has introduced the latest version of its risk assessment tool, Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labeling (VITAL®) 4.0.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently published a report on the health impact of dietary exposure to toxic fatty acid esters from supplementary foods provided by humanitarian organizations to treat malnutrition.

A recent European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) technical report has summarized emerging chemical risks to food safety identified by the agency and its processes for doing so, covering the period 2020–2023.

A recent review of carcinogenicity data submitted to support U.S. FDA “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) determinations for food substances has shown that, although the types of carcinogenicity data are varied, safety is typically adequately evidenced. Still, a standardized approach defining which data is required to support a GRAS determination could be useful. 

As concerns mount regarding climate change and its profound impacts on global food safety and security, innovative solutions are imperative. Artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a powerful ally against climate challenges, offering cutting-edge tools to mitigate risks and fortify food safety measures.

Any time a new piece of equipment, such as an increasingly relevant “collaborative robot” (cobot), is incorporated, the food safety plan—including the hazard analysis—must be reanalyzed to determine the new equipment’s impact on the food safety system, and what mitigation strategies must be deployed.

Foreign material (FM) is a known food safety hazard that is starting to be seen as an expected and accepted risk. FM detection devices are abundant in production facilities, but a detection device should never be viewed as a control point; rather, it is an insurance policy against food adulteration.

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) new Food Enzyme Intake Model (FEIM) web tool helps the food industry and consumers estimate dietary exposure to specific food enzymes per manufacturing processes.

A recent article identifies the challenges associated with allergenicity assessments of novel proteins and proposes a potential framework to prioritize proteins for allergenicity assessment.  

Intended to inform food safety decision-making, a new risk assessment model developed by researchers at Penn State University helps milk processors evaluate possible consumer exposure to Bacillus cereus from milk subjected to high-temperature, short-time pasteurization.