About: European Food Safety Agency

Andriukaitis: I will make health systems efficient and sustainable

In his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, Lithuanian Commissioner-designate for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis said that “supporting universal health coverage, strengthening primary care, improving quality and safety, promoting e-health” will be among his priorities.

EU set to allow cultivation of GM crop

Despite record opposition among EU member states, European ministers failed to agree on Tuesday to ban a genetically-modified maize to be grown on EU soil. With 19 votes against, 4 abstentions and only 5 in favour, the disagreement will now leave in the hands of the European Commission whether to allow or not the insect-resistant maize for cultivation.

EU to impose bigger fines for food fraud after horsemeat scandal

In the wake of the horse meat scandal, the European Commission unveiled plans on Monday to impose bigger fines on food producers who commit fraud. The proposal comes after horse DNA was found in up to 5% of EU products labelled as beef, after the Commission carried out food tests across the continent.

5% of EU beef products contain horsemeat, says EU

Horse DNA has been found in up to 5% of EU products labelled as beef, according to results published on Tuesday by the European Commission. Additional tests on horse carcasses revealed a 0.5% contamination of phenylbutazone or 'bute', a potentially harmful drug banned from human consumption. The Commission dismissed concerns that bute traces or horse meat consumption pose a risk to human health and called the scandal a 'food fraud'.