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Database of processing techniques and processing factors compatible with the EFSA food classification and description system FOODEX 2

12/2016-08/2018

This third-party funded project is conducted in the framework of the BfR research programme to harmonise and standardise assessments of exposure.

EFSA grant number: GP/EFSA/PRAS/2016/01

Project homepage: -

Project description:

As of 2014, EFSA is conducting pan-European dietary cumulative exposure and risk assessments related to actual levels of pesticide residues in food commodities. These cumulative risk assessments use the pesticide occurrence data generated under the official monitoring programmes of Member States, the consumption data from the EFSA comprehensive food consumption database and pesticide-specific information available from dossiers submitted in the context of Regulations (EC) Nos. 396/2005 and 1107/2009. EFSA´s comprehensive food consumption database follows the food classification and description system FoodEx 2, which consists of a comprehensive catalogue of food items and facet descriptors, aggregated into food groups and broader food categories. The pesticide-specific information includes processing factors reflecting the transfer of pesticide residues from raw agricultural commodities (RAC) to food items, but no harmonised list of processing factors is available today within Europe and worldwide.

EFSA therefore launched the project “Database of processing techniques and processing factors compatible with the EFSA food classification and description system FoodEx 2”. The main overall objective of the project is to develop a database of processing types and processing factors compatible with the EFSA food classification and description system FoodEx 2. This database is intended to provide information on the fate of pesticide residues when processing the monitored RACs into food items as contained in the comprehensive food consumption database.

The project is divided into three specific objectives:

Objective 1: Elaboration of a compendium of processing techniques investigated in a representative amount of regulatory processing studies and verified by current information from published literature and food processing industry.

Objective 2: Linking all raw and all relevant processed products considered in the compendium to the EFSA food classification and description system FoodEx 2. Relevant processed products are those being consumed by humans, being fed to livestock or being important intermediates for further processing operations.

Objective 3: Collecting and re-evaluating those processing studies, the results of which have been reported in EFSA´s Conclusions and Scientific Reports (in the context of Reg (EC) No 1107/2009) as well as EFSA’s Reasoned Opinions (in accordance with article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005) issued until 30/06/2016. The study results are validated against the representative processing techniques compiled in the compendium and selected information from the studies is organised in a database together with the resulting processing factors

Project partners:

• National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, The Netherlands
• Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Greece

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