About: EFSA Archives

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has asked the public for input on the complex question of the "cocktail effects" of chemical substances. EURACTIV's partner Journal de l'Environnement reports.

A European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) report has warned that 6.5% of food imports from third countries contain pesticide residue that exceeds the EU's maximum permitted level. EURACTIV Spain reports.

The EU's food safety watchdog faces a funding shortfall over the next five years but will not discuss the issue with Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis when he visits its Parma headquarters for the first time today (27 April).

The EU postponed a decision Tuesday (8 March) on whether to extend the approval of a crucial weedkiller ingredient for another 15 years amid international uproar that it may cause cancer.

The head of Europe's food safety watchdog has written to a group of nearly 100 senior scientists strongly rejecting their criticisms in an ongoing row about the safety of weed-killer ingredient glyphosate.

A ruling by the French Constitutional Council has undermined the country's ban on Bisphenol A. France's highest court ruled that manufacturers can continue export products that contain the substance. EURACTIV France reports. 

Widely-used pesticides made by Bayer CropScience and Syngenta pose a risk to bees, the European Union's food safety watchdog said yesterday (26 August), reinforcing previous research that led to EU restrictions.

The French Council of State has questioned the constitutionality of the country’s ban on Bisphenol A in food packaging, following a request from the plastics industry. The chemical was outlawed in January this year. EURACTIV France reports. 

A new report by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that more than 97% of foods contain pesticide residue levels that fall within legal limits. Strawberries are the most likely to exceed safe limits, the agency found.

Artificial sweeteners found in diet soda and yoghurt, which are consumed by millions daily, can raise the blood sugar level instead of reducing it, according to a new study published by the scientific journal Nature.

The European Commission and Parliament are renewing their attempt to update the EU's regulation on novel foods, which was rejected three years ago over ethical and safety concerns related to animal cloning for food production.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says acrylamide in food potentially increases the risk of developing cancer for consumers in all age groups. The authority has launched a public consultation on its draft scientific opinion about the substance.

On the eve of the European Council (27 June), yet another dispute has emerged between the EU and France. The French national food safety agency found nothing to prove that food containing high levels of phytosterol prevents heart disease, which contradicts European food safety regulation. EURACTIV France reports.

The European Parliament rejected on Wednesday (12 March) the European Commission's proposed definition of nanomaterials added to food products.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has invited the public to make online comments about its draft assessment of the chemical compound Bisphenol A (BPA), which is widely suspected by scientists of disrupting the hormone system.

A recent report by the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and the independent journalist Stéphane Horel has accused the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) of having major loopholes in its independence policy.

In a letter to the anti-pesticides activist group PAN Europe, EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg backs the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) definition of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, saying it is in accordance with the international scientific consensus.

We are witnessing a new phenomenon where online tools, and especially the mobilising force of social media is no longer restricted to high politics or pure monitoring of EU events, but it is entering the realm of regulatory issues, from pesticides to intellectual property, where policy makers, both on national and EU level, are keen (and sometimes forced) to listen to the public, says András Baneth.

SPECIAL REPORT / More than a decade after it was established, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) still struggles to persuade consumers that it is a credible risk assessor working for the public good and not unduly influenced by corporate lobbyists.

A majority of EU countries have supported a European Commission proposal to temporarily ban three pesticides suspected of harming bees in a vote on Monday (29 April).

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) received more than 200 comments during an online public consultation on its draft opinion on the food additive aspartame. The results, together with the outcome of a stakeholder meeting last week, will be published with EFSA's final scientific opinion in May.

The EU's REACH law should be strengthened to ban more endocrine-disrupting chemicals, says Sweden's Environment Minister Lena Ek.

Bread, buns and coffee can be dangerous as they might contain the chemical compound acrylamide, which the Technical University of Denmark's (DTU) National Food Institute now links to cancer. EU food safety authorities have been asked to investigate.