The EU strengthens food through the development of large databases

In recent years, residents of European countries have paid more attention to the potential food safety hazards caused by food and drinks. Although EU countries have the basic tools for safety risk assessment and risk management of chemical components in food, the relevant data are scattered and limited.

To this end, the 7th EU R&D framework plan invested 200000 euros to support the establishment of the FACET project. The database contains the detailed information of food additives and flavoring ingredients in different food groups, as well as a large amount of data on the ingredients of relevant packaging materials. By integrating the relevant measurement factors, it strengthens the risk assessment and monitoring capacity of EU agencies for food chemical exposure. On the whole, the project helps to protect consumers' rights and interests, support food chain innovation, promote the formulation of international food regulatory rules and develop risk management methods.

The project collects, classifies and analyzes the main data in the field where standards have not yet been established, and can provide detailed information on 41 flavor enhancers and 32 different food additives representing different flavor types. The chemical composition in the database may cover different packaging materials used in Europe. The database is updated regularly to make the evaluation results more accurate. At the same time, the project team has also established a mathematical model tool to predict the transfer of chemical components contained in packaging materials to food in reality. In view of the fact that the database contains a large number of actual data for specific populations exposed to some food chemical components, it has a positive effect on post-marketing monitoring of food.