Food safety: LIST recognized as EFSA competent organization

On 18 December, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a list of qualified organisations, which can receive grants or subsidies for scientific projects in the food safety area. LIST is now one of them!

European consumers are among the best protected and best informed in the world

Since it was set up, EFSA has delivered scientific advice on a wide range of issues, including Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Salmonella, food additives such as aspartame, food allergens, genetically modified organisms, pesticides and animal health issues, such as avian influenza…

The EFSA is an independent EU agency producing scientific opinions and advice that form the basis for European policies and legislation. It was set up in 2002 following a series of food crises in the late 1990s. Risk assessment (science) and risk management (policy) need to be kept separate. The EFSA is responsible for the former area, and also has a duty to communicate its scientific findings to the public. Thanks to this system, European consumers are among the best protected and best informed in the world as regards risks in the food chain.

LIST can now apply for EFSA grants

EFSA regularly awards grants or subsidies for projects and activities that contribute to EFSA’s mission in the following areas:

• data collection
• preparatory work for scientific opinions
• other scientific and technical assistance.

Only competent organisations, that have been designated by Member States, are eligible to apply for a call. From now on, LIST can participate in upcoming grants. This is a great opportunity for LIST, not only from a scientific and methodological point of view, but also to:

• relate research and technology development at LIST to topics on the European risk assessment agenda for food safety,
• be aware of potential future regulatory constraints in food applications,
• network and generate collaboration opportunities in the EU.

In order to be eligible, LIST had to go through a thorough assessment procedure, where, among other topics, scientific competences in fields relevant to the EFSA and the existence of robust procedures for identifying and handling potential conflicts of interest were assessed.

_{Picture copyright: François Malo-Renault under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license}