European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Health claims: article 13 final list now available
EFSA has published the final list of functional health claims to be assessed under article 13 of the Regulation on nutrition and health claims. The full database is now available along with the screening criteria and timeline for EFSA's assessment.



EFSA evaluates Salmonella contamination of pigs at slaughter
EFSA’s Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection has published an analysis of the risk factors related to Salmonella in slaughter pigs within the European Union.

EFSA initiates pan-European research project on bee decline
EFSA has awarded a grant of €100,000 to a consortium of European scientific institutes to study so-called “Colony Collapse Disorder” in honey bees. The nine-month project is being co-ordinated by EFSA's AMU Unit and is due to begin in January 2009. Honey bees play an important role in the pollination of crops and a decline in bee populations could have a serious impact on agricultural production.

Update on EFSA's work on health claim list – Article 13
The European Commission has sent EFSA an updated list of 4,185 main health claim entries, taking into account the conditions of use and references available for around 10,000 similar health claims. EFSA has screened all claims received and identified those where further information is required before it can start its evaluation. It has also indicated which claims will be evaluated and by which date. The full database containing the list of claims will be published on EFSA’s website in January 2009.