A public consultation is being carried out until 31 March on the European Food Safety Agency’s (EFSA) new draft guidance on the risk assessment of substances present in food intended for infants under 16 weeks of age.
The draft guidelines were prepared by the EFSA Scientific committee at the request of the European Commission. They are based on the fact that from birth up to 16 weeks, infants are exclusively fed on breast milk and/or infant formula and safe levels set for the general population do not apply.
On this basis, the committee proposes to use the high consumption value of 260 mL/kg bw/day when calculating the levels of infants’ exposure to substances contained in their food. It advocates a case approach depending on whether a substance is deliberately added to food or is systematically present.
According to the EFSA, this approach will help to “back up EU decisions and guarantee safe use of infant formula”.
All stakeholders are invited to submit written comments using the electronic template provided. The online session must be no longer than two hours long and all additional data for backing up written comments must be addressed to: SCER.PublicConsult.84@efsa.europa.eu (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)