TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk Benefit Assessment of foods: Key findings from an international workshop
AU - Pires, Sara Monteiro
AU - Boué, Géraldine
AU - Boobis, Alan
AU - Eneroth, Hanna
AU - Hoekstra, Jeljer
AU - Membré, Jeanne-Marie
AU - Persson, Inez Maria
AU - Poulsen, Morten
AU - Ruzante, Juliana
AU - van Klaveren, Jacob
AU - Thomsen, Sofie Theresa
AU - Nauta, Maarten
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Whilst risk management measures, including food policy, are developed for the protection of public health and the environment, they may also lead to a reduction in health benefits. Policy decisions require then consideration of these necessary trade-offs, which leads to an increasing need to apply formal risk-benefit assessment (RBA) of foods. In this context, the European Food Safety Authority sponsored a Risk-Benefit Assessment Workshop on “past, current and future developments within the risk-benefit assessment of foods (RBA)” held in May 2017. The overall aims of the RBA Workshop were to discuss existing methods, challenges and needs within RBA, and to draft a roadmap for future development of RBA. The specific objectives were to i) identify RBA activities in Europe and globally; ii) discuss how to further develop and optimize RBA methodology; iii) identify challenges and opportunities within RBA; and iv) increase collaboration internationally. The two-day workshop gathered 28 participants from 16 institutions in 11 countries. It included technical presentations of RBA methods and case studies, and two break-out sessions for group discussions. All participants agreed that RBA has substantial potential to inform risk-management decisions in the areas of food safety, nutrition and public health. Several activities to optimize further developments within RBA were suggested. This paper provides a summary of workshop presentations, a discussion of challenges that limit progress in this area, and suggestions of next steps for this promising approach supporting a science-based decision process in the area of risk-benefit management of foods.
AB - Whilst risk management measures, including food policy, are developed for the protection of public health and the environment, they may also lead to a reduction in health benefits. Policy decisions require then consideration of these necessary trade-offs, which leads to an increasing need to apply formal risk-benefit assessment (RBA) of foods. In this context, the European Food Safety Authority sponsored a Risk-Benefit Assessment Workshop on “past, current and future developments within the risk-benefit assessment of foods (RBA)” held in May 2017. The overall aims of the RBA Workshop were to discuss existing methods, challenges and needs within RBA, and to draft a roadmap for future development of RBA. The specific objectives were to i) identify RBA activities in Europe and globally; ii) discuss how to further develop and optimize RBA methodology; iii) identify challenges and opportunities within RBA; and iv) increase collaboration internationally. The two-day workshop gathered 28 participants from 16 institutions in 11 countries. It included technical presentations of RBA methods and case studies, and two break-out sessions for group discussions. All participants agreed that RBA has substantial potential to inform risk-management decisions in the areas of food safety, nutrition and public health. Several activities to optimize further developments within RBA were suggested. This paper provides a summary of workshop presentations, a discussion of challenges that limit progress in this area, and suggestions of next steps for this promising approach supporting a science-based decision process in the area of risk-benefit management of foods.
KW - Risk-benefit assessment
KW - Food safety
KW - Nutrition
KW - Diet
KW - Evidence-based
KW - Health impact
KW - Food policy
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.09.021
DO - 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.09.021
M3 - Review
C2 - 30717016
SN - 0963-9969
VL - 116
SP - 859
EP - 869
JO - Food Research International
JF - Food Research International
ER -