Brussels, 08/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 4 May, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) gave FoodEx a new boost. This is the harmonised food classification and description system that helps national data collection agencies and other scientific bodies deliver comparable scientific data to EFSA.
This is a breakthrough for EFSA's scientific assessment work but the scope of this updated instrument may also be extended internationally because the FAO and WHO recently decided to work with EFSA to create the basis of a food categorisation system applicable at a global level, as part of a pilot project.
“FoodEx2” is subsequently the second update of the system since it was introduced in 2011. It classifies and describes food, drink and food commodities in data collections across different food safety areas. The system allows harmonised Europe-wide reporting of data on food consumption and occurrence of chemical hazards (e.g. contaminants, pesticides) in food. These data are fundamental to EFSA's work as they are used to assess consumer exposure to food-related risks in the European Union.
The coverage of the food safety areas within EFSA's remit in the classification has been considerably extended, with important updates in the domain of biological agents (e.g. disease, viruses) in food and animals, and the addition of hierarchies for veterinary drug residues, feed and botanicals.
The terminology was also significantly expanded in the sections on raw commodities and natural sources. Several technical enhancements such as simplified codes and hierarchies of foods will aid reporting by data providers.
FoodEx2 application comes into immediate effect and will now become the norm for collecting and transmitting member state data to EFSA. The agencies responsible for providing data will be helped in their task by way of a guide that presents them with harmonised coding rules, as well as practical advice for simplified use of the FoodEx2 system.
EFSA is also planning on improving support tools. (Aminata Niang)