Unit Novel Foods, GMOs, Food Additives, Flavourings and Feed Additives

The unit addresses issues directly or indirectly related to food and feed safety or consumer health protection. Activities are focused on risk assessment in a regulatory context, which serves as a basis for risk management decisions on the national and international level.

The unit elaborates toxicological assessments and scientific opinions on health risks in line with international guidelines and standards, as part of regulatory authorization procedures and in response to issues related to dietary exposureClose dialogexposureExposureTo glossary. These particularly include:

• Food additives, processing aids, flavourings, flavouring extracts, thermal process flavourings and smoke flavourings
• Novel foods and novel food ingredients
• Food and feed from genetically modified organisms (GMO)
• Feed additives and feedstuffs intended for particular nutritional purposes
• Microplastics and nanoparticles as contaminants in the food chain
• Food allergies

• The risk assessment is based on the latest scientific evidence, drawing on findings from international, national, and own research activities. Own research activities include:
• Development of testing methods to assess the allergenic potential of new protein sources of plant or animal origin (e.g., from insects)
• Research on the toxicological modeClose dialogmodeModeTo glossary of action regarding microplastics and nanoparticles

Staff members of the unit participate in the work of national and international specialized committees and scientific working groups, for example regarding working groups of the German Federal Government and the Länder, the Association of German Agricultural Analytic and Research Institutes (VDLUFA), or the scientific committees and working groups of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority) and the World Health Organization (WHO), respectively.