European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Introduction: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.

EFSA’s role is to assess and communicate on all risks associated with the food chain. Since EFSA’s advice serves to inform the policies and decisions of risk managers, a large part of EFSA’s work is undertaken in response to specific requests for scientific advice. Requests for scientific assessments are received from the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States. EFSA also undertakes scientific work on its own initiative, so-called self-tasking.

Accordingly, EFSA’s advice frequently supports the risk management and policy-making processes. These may involve the process of adopting or revising European legislation on food or feed safety, deciding whether to approve regulated substances such as pesticides and food additives, or, developing new regulatory frameworks and policies for instance in the field of nutrition. EFSA is not involved in these management processes, but its independent advice gives them a solid scientific foundation.

Through its risk communications activities EFSA seeks to raise awareness and further explain the implications of its scientific work. EFSA aims to provide appropriate, consistent, accurate and timely communications on food safety issues to all stakeholders and the public at large, based on the Authority’s risk assessments and scientific expertise.