According to a recently released report, five topics were considered emerging risks by European experts in 2023, while a wide range of other topics were considered.
The annual report on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) emerging risk activities revealed that 32 issues were discussed and five were listed as emerging risks.
EFSA’s networks contributing to the identification of emerging risks include the Emerging Risks Exchange Network (EREN), the Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks, the EFSA Scientific Units, the Scientific Panels, the Scientific Committee and their working groups.
The first issue was about alcohol replacement drinks made with food-grade herbs that contain molecules that work on the GABA system, which induces a state of relaxation. The goal is to license the product as an ingredient that can be used by beverage companies as an alternative to alcohol.
The second emerging topic was the risk of pathogen transmission to humans of the Hendra and Nipah viruses due to the loss of bat habitats due to environmental changes due to climate change. In a recent outbreak of Nipah virus in Bangladesh, eight people died after consuming raw date palm sap, and 11 people between the ages of 15 days and 50 years were infected.
Other emerging issues included Z15 nanomaterial used in wastewater treatment plants in Europe, risk or exposure to rare earth elements and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus.
Topics being monitored
Areas not considered emerging included the microbiological risk of plant-based alternatives to animal products. Five serious cases of listeriosis were reported to French authorities, four of which occurred in pregnant women with premature deliveries. The patients were infected with the same Listeria strain and reported symptoms between April and December 2022. Before contracting listeriosis, they consumed cheese alternatives containing almond and walnut milk and cashew nuts. Experts say this is not an emerging risk and is related to risk management practices that can be mitigated at the corporate level.
In the autumn of 2022, PFAS contamination was found in organic eggs in Denmark. The levels were significantly higher than in barn and free-range eggs. It was suspected that the high levels were related to the use of fishmeal as supplementary feed for organic laying hens. Organic farmers have taken measures to stop using fishmeal as feed for organic laying hens. EFSA said the issue was being handled by DG Sante while data collection and risk management activities were ongoing.
High concentrations of cadmium have been reported in some whole and ground flaxseed products. Cadmium is a naturally occurring heavy metal in soil, although concentrations can be increased by agricultural or industrial activities. The issue was raised in New Zealand because cadmium concentrations in soil have increased in parts of the country due to the historic use of phosphate fertilizer. Flaxseed was not the target of an assessment of cadmium content. Cadmium is acutely toxic at high levels and can cause chronic toxicity problems in the kidneys and liver. It was recommended to monitor the cadmium content in protein-rich seeds and conduct a risk-benefit analysis.
An outbreak traced to tara flour was reported in the United States. It is thought that baikiain in tara flour was responsible for 470 illnesses as of June 2022. In May 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that tara flour does not meet the General Recognized As Safe (GRAS) standard. EU experts said it was not clear whether it was a one-off contamination or whether tara flour itself poses an emerging food safety risk. They recommended monitoring and collecting data on the presence of tara flour on the EU market.
After World War II, explosive conventional and chemical munitions were dumped into the ocean, leading to corrosion and degradation of ammunition shells. Compounds from a Baltic Sea landfill are being accumulated by flatfish, potentially posing a threat to fish health and human food security. Experts said more information was needed on the concentration of explosives in fish meat. A monitoring program must collect data before deciding whether to take action.
Other signals that emerged included the relevance of Bacillus cytotoxicus as a foodborne pathogen, the prevalence of Providencia spp. in food, the risk to human health of raw meat-based diets for pets, alternatives to sesame seed ethylene oxide treatment, an increase in the consumption of the Amanita muscaria mushroom and the Aichi virus (AiV) as a possible cause of outbreaks .
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