King’s NERC Disciplinary Hopping Workshop on Safe Food and Chemicals

Risk/safety assessment of food chemicals

Chemicals occur in food as contaminants, as residues resulting from environmental exposure of food sources, or as additives to food commodities for technological reasons, as well asfood contact materials. All these chemicals require a sound scientific assessment. The presentation will encompass a brief introduction to food safety in general and to chemicals in food in particular. Current approaches to risk/safety assessment and standard-setting of food chemicals will then be described. Challenges to the current approaches, including the need to introduce novel approaches will then be outlined. Finally, an outlook on novel risk assessment approaches, including the need to incorporate alternative methods and to address particular structures such as nano-materials will be presented.

Biographical Note: Maged Younes

Following an academic career as a researcher and Professor of Toxicology and Biochemical Pharmacology in Germany, Dr Younes joined the World Health Organization (including a two-year secondment to the United Nations Environment Programme). At WHO and UNEP, he managed and directed various technical and policy programmes, including chemical safety, environmental health, environmental conventions, governance and external relations, and food safety and zoonoses. Since his retirement in 2013, he has been working as Independent International Expert, Global Public Health. Among others, he is currently Chair of the Food Additives and Flavourings Panel (FAF) and Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In addition, he is Chair of the Commission on Evidence-Based Methods in Risk Assessment of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, and Member of the Committee on Toxicity (COT) of the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA). He is Visiting Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok, Thailand, and Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.