International updates

Most of the hazards related to welfare of pigs at slaughter are due to inadequate staff skills and poorly designed and constructed facilities. That is one of the main conclusions of EFSA’s latest advice on welfare of animals during the slaughter process. EFSA...

“Food safety is EFSA’s daily job, but it’s everyone’s business to consider food safety now and in the future if we want to limit the impact of climate change and to build sustainable global food systems for the benefit of consumers, producers and our natural world." –...

EFSA has published a scientific opinion on public health risks related to the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in food – a mycotoxin naturally produced by moulds that can be found in a variety of foodstuffs including cereals, preserved meats, fresh and dried fruit, and...

The globalisation of trade combined with the boom in travel and movement of people mean that plant pests can travel from one side of the globe to the other in a matter of days. So how do risk assessors and plant health officers keep track of the pests of tomorrow? The...

EFSA has published the results of its two pilot assessments on the risks posed to humans by residues of multiple pesticides in food. The assessments – one considering chronic effects on the thyroid system and the other acute effects on the nervous system – are the...

Thirty-seven new plant species have been identified as hosts of the Xylella fastidiosa pathogen. Most were naturally (not artificially) infected and were found both in EU countries (France, Italy, Portugal and Spain) and non-EU countries (USA and Iran). The new hosts...