EFSA

All food products in the EU must first be evaluated as being safe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) before being put on the market. It is therefore very important for the food industry to have EFSA saying the right thing... and for EFSA to be rigorously independent from the food industry!

But the agency keeps being criticised for the conflicts of interests of the experts on its panels, who are regularly shown to receive money or be unduly influenced by the food industry. Why does the agency keep appointing the wrong people? Is there a way to improve the situation?

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Conflicts of interest are also the tip of a larger iceberg. By law, the data used by EFSA to assess a product is provided by the company producing this product, and EFSA cannot publish this data without being sued by the company at stake, so it never does it. This means the scientific community cannot audit what EFSA does. Which, in turns, means that what EFSA does is not science but something else: regulatory science. Can such a flawed system be changed, and how?

In this dedicated section, you can find our main publications documenting the problem as well as our suggestions for trying to fix it. The below video is an educational tool from 2012 explaining in 3 minutes what the major problems at EFSA are. (Also available in French or with Spanish subtitles here).

[video:http://vimeo.com/33337236]

Food

EFSA's new policy fails to ban experts with industry links

14.12.2011

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) new independence policy allows the possible subversion of scientific advice by industry’s vested interests, Corporate Europe Observatory said following publication of the policy on Wednesday. It is due for approval by the EFSA Management Board when it meets tomorrow in Warsaw.
Food

What you should know about EFSA - in 3 minutes

09.12.2011

CEO publishes a new educational tool explaining some of the major problems at EFSA, the agency responsible for scientific advice on food
safety to the EU institutions.
A 3 minutes animation allows you to find out more how EFSA operates and to what extent this benefits the big food, biotech and pesticides corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Unilever, Nestlé... Are EFSA's experts and management independent from industry? What role does industry play in EFSA food safety tests? Doesn't EFSA look at other, independent research on these products?

Response to EFSA re use of logo

27.09.2011

CEO has responded to EFSA's threat to take legal action regarding the use of an illustration on Corporate Europe Observatory’s website . EFSA claims this illustration constitutes an “unauthorised use of EFSA’s logo and name” and that this entitles EFSA to take legal action “to ensure that the use ceases”.

Legal letter from EFSA

27.09.2011

On Friday 16 September, CEO received a letter from the European Food Safety Authority threatening legal action regarding the use of their logo and name in our article on conflicts of interest among members of EFSA's expert panel on food additives.

Response to EFSA

20.09.2011

EFSA has claimed CEO got its facts wrong in the article about conflicts of interest. EFSA's response to CEO shows that the agency is failing to properly deal with conflicts of interest. Perhaps EFSA needs to read its own guidance on what its panel members need to declare?
EU institutions

EU food additive experts fail to declare links with food industry

13.09.2011

Two experts from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in charge of evaluating food additives, including aspartame, have failed to report active collaborations with ILSI, a scientific lobby group funded by the food industry – major user of additives and aspartame. EFSA rules on conflicts of interest require these experts to report such activities.
Food

An open letter from CEO to the European Food Safety Authority

01.07.2011

With this open letter Corporate Europe Observatory reacts to a letter that EFSA executive director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle wrote to CEO in reaction to our investigative report, “Exposed: conflicts of interest among EFSA’s experts on food additives”.
Food

Exposed: conflicts of interest among EFSA’s experts on food additives

15.06.2011

New research by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has found that 11 out of the 20 experts on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel on food additives (ANS) have a conflict of interest, as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Food

Conflicts of interest EFSA board letter

04.03.2011

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) last week highlighted in a report that at least four members of EFSA’s management board are employed by or otherwise linked with food industry lobby groups and other commercial interests, a situation that creates potential conflicts of interest.

Food

EFSA: conflicts of interest on board

23.02.2011

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is responsible for assessing and communicating food safety in the European Union, for everything from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to pesticides. However EFSA has recently been criticised because its scientific assessments of new GM crops and pesticides rely almost exclusively on corporate research data. Some EFSA experts have also been accused of being too close to the food and drink industry .
Food

Is Big Food Shaping EFSA Policy?

29.11.2010

Public relations expertise developed by a food-and-drink-industry-funded think tank seems to be being promoted by the European Union’s food safety agency, following the appointment of a food industry insider. The PR strategy on dealing with risks has even been included in official guidelines. Recent cases of former Commissioners going through the revolving doors into lobbying jobs have raised questions about conflicts of interest.
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