European Food Safety Authority

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is an independent European Union agency that provides scientific advice on risks associated with food and feed.

Risk assessment: A systematic process for identifying hazards, estimating exposure, and characterizing the likelihood and severity of harm. EFSA uses this framework to assess hazards across the food chain.
Pesticide residue: A trace amount of a pesticide or its breakdown products remaining in food or feed. EFSA evaluates pesticide risks and advises on residue limits in food.
European Union: A political and economic union of European member states with shared institutions and laws. EFSA is an agency within the Union’s system of institutions and regulation.
EFSA Management Board: EFSA’s governing body, responsible for its budget, work programme, and administrative oversight. The board governs the agency while remaining distinct from its scientific panels.
General Food Law Regulation: The EU legal framework establishing food-law principles, traceability duties, and procedures for food safety. It embeds EFSA’s advice within a broader system of EU food-risk management.
Hazard analysis and critical control points: A preventive food-safety system that identifies hazards and controls them at critical stages of production. It is a practical control system distinct from EFSA’s scientific assessment role.
Food additive: A substance deliberately added to food for a technological purpose, such as preserving or coloring it. EFSA assesses the safety of additives proposed for use in the EU.
European food safety crisis: A series of food-safety and animal-disease crises in Europe during the 1990s that undermined public confidence. These crises drove calls for an independent source of scientific risk assessment.
EFSA Scientific Committee: EFSA’s body that coordinates scientific work and advises on cross-cutting methodological issues. It helps align assessment methods across EFSA’s specialist panels.
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed: An EU network for quickly sharing information about direct or indirect risks in food and feed. EFSA can contribute scientific expertise when alerts require risk assessment.

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