Das Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung

News

Germany and South Korea: Knowledge partnership for risk assessment

Since 2011, BfR and the Korean partner institution have organized almost every two years joint international symposia, each with a special focus topic tailored to the needs of risk assessment.

Bild von einem Treffen des BfR mit der ONSSA

Food safety in Germany and Morocco: exploring opportunities for scientific cooperation

The BfR and the Moroccan Food Safety Au-thority (ONSSA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of food safety in February 2021 to exchange views on global consumer health protection issues and to support each other with state-of-the-art knowledge and scientific expertise.

Ein Rind frisst Futtermittel aus einem Trog

Study: Hemp as animal feed can affect the health of cows

Commercial hemp is currently experiencing a revival due to its many applications. A team of researchers led by the BfR has now investigated the consequences of feeding hemp silage to dairy cows.

Titelbild zum BfR-Verbrauchermonitor 08/2022

Product and food safety enjoys confidence

Consumers largely rate the safety of food purchased in Germany as high. This is revealed by the Consumer Monitor, a regular representative survey carried out by the BfR.

Toxicological testing requirements to be developed: 3rd Expert discussion at the BfR on tattoo inks

On 29 June 2022, the 3rd international expert meeting took place at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) on the prerequisites for safe tattoo inks. The meeting discussed the toxicological testing requirements.

Product Notifications and Poisonings

The Institute

The Institute was set up in November 2002 to strengthen consumer health protection. It is the scientific agency of the Federal Republic of Germany which is responsible for preparing expert reports and opinions on food and feed safety as well as on the safety of substances and products.

BfR endeavours to constantly undertake topical assessments of the risks associated with foods - be it from heavy metals, pesticide residues, toxic ingredients or the like (substance risks), be it from bacteria, viruses or fungi (microbial risks) or be it risks from novel technologies in food production (novel foods).

For health assessment the decisive factor is whether and, if so, on what scale consumers come into contact with the substances contained in the products and what health risks these might entail. This requires knowledge about the numerous substances, materials and their processing into various products.

Chemicals are encountered in almost all areas of daily life. That's why stiff requirements must be imposed to ensure the safe handling of chemicals. The proper handling of chemicals may not constitute a risk to the health of man or to the environment.