The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its guidance on how to assess the safety of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications. EFSA said the guidance gives practical suggestions on the types of testing needed and the methods that can be applied to those applications.

Reinhilde Schoonjans, a risk assessment scientist at EFSA, said, "This guidance is very timely because it gives applicants the tools they need to prepare complete nanotechnology applications and equips risk assessors such as EFSA with the appropriate tools to evaluate their safety.”

This document, which focuses on the safety assessment for human and animal health, underwent a three-month public consultation and takes into account all comments received, EFSA said.

The agency said the guidance covers areas such as novel foods, food contact materials, food and feed additives and pesticides and is intended for all interested parties — in particular risk assessors, risk managers and applicants.

The guidance will now enter a pilot phase, with finalization planned by the end 2019.

A second guidance will be developed in 2019 focusing on environmental risk assessment of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications in the food and feed chain, EFSA noted.

Read "Guidance on the Human & Animal Risk Assessment of the Application of Nanoscience & Nanotechnologies in Agri/food/feed."