EU Food safety authority boosts public image

The European body responsible for food safety says that interest in its activities has increased “substantially.”

In its annual report, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said there had been a 49 per cent rise in its media coverage over the past year.

A new website has also been launched which, it says, will help further improve transparency in its work.

EFSA, which marks its fifth anniversary this year and aims to 'bridge the gap' between science and consumers, says such measures will help “build public confidence” in the way health risks are assessed.

The newly-published report says that scientific output rose by 63 per cent in 2007 compared with the previous year with just over 200 scientific opinions while  cooperation with national risk assessment authorities in member states also increased “significantly.”

The body has produced more than 680 scientific opinions since it began its work in 2002. At the same time, the number of staff rose to over 300 and its annual budget increased to more than  €50 million.

The Parma-based body, independent of the EU, was set up in response to a series of food crises in the late 1990s.

Its executive director Catherine Geslain-Laneelle said, “We have achieved a lot but many challenges still lie ahead.

“Science, like time, does not stand still and EFSA will continue to be at the forefront of scientific risk assessment, taking on some of the most challenging areas, such as animal cloning.”

Meanwhile, EFSA’s scientific committee will publish its opinion on the implications of animal cloning on food safety and animal health on 24 July.

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