Parma: The European Food Safety Authority has published a position paper that sets out how EFSA risk assessment must change over the coming decade to keep pace with new food technologies, climate pressure and growing data demands. The paper, titled “EFSA needs for scientific excellence and regulatory readiness” and released in the EFSA Journal, outlines six pathways for the agency’s scientific work.
The first pathway focuses on innovation. EFSA says its methods for risk assessment must adapt to precision fermentation, cell-culture-derived products, plant molecular farming, microbiome-based products, feed additives, biopesticides and recycled food-contact materials. Each of these areas brings new questions about composition, exposure and long-term safety that current EFSA risk assessment guidance does not fully address.
The second pathway concerns new approach methodologies, often shortened to NAMs. These include cell-based assays, omics profiling and computer models, and they support the wider EU goal of moving away from animal testing. EFSA also plans to expand probabilistic methods for combined exposures and to develop tools that weigh risks against benefits. On EFSA risk assessment methods, the paper stays realistic and states that studies in living animals, at least for subchronic toxicity, will remain necessary until the new methods are ready.
A third pathway applies a One Health approach, treating animal, plant and environmental health as a single system. EFSA intends to study how chemicals affect the gut microbiome and related metabolic and inflammatory disorders, and to monitor vector-borne diseases and climate-related risks. A cross-agency One Health taskforce supports this work.
The fourth pathway shifts EFSA risk assessment from reactive crisis response to anticipatory planning. EFSA wants to use machine learning to spot emerging threats, digital models to test how food systems might fail and better access to real-time data. The agency describes its intended evolution as a scientific preparedness hub that can warn regulators before a problem reaches consumers.
Risk communication and applicant support form the fifth pathway. EFSA plans AI-assisted media monitoring to counter false information during food safety events and stronger guidance for companies that submit dossiers, with the aim of reducing bottlenecks and delays. The sixth pathway builds toward an end-to-end, AI-supported risk assessment environment that includes automated pre-submission dossier checks, with data protection built in and human accountability retained for every decision.
The roadmap matters for farmers, food producers and importers because EFSA opinions underpin EU authorisations for novel foods, additives and pesticides. Faster and clearer EFSA risk assessment could shorten approval times for safe products, while stronger methods should give consumers more confidence in the outcome. The agency plans to launch the strategy at its Safe Food, One Future conference, where Member States and stakeholders will test the proposals.
