TKPlate 1.0: An Open-access platform for toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic modelling of chemicals to implement new approach methodologies in chemical risk assessment.

This publication is linked to the following EFSA Supporting Publications articles: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.

EFSA's third Scientific Conference 'Science, Food, Society': concluding remarks.

From 18-21 September 2018, EFSA hosted its third Scientific Conference on Science, Food and Society in Parma, Italy. This paper summarises the overall recommendations on future actions and research priorities of the conference and complements the earlier multi-authored papers in this issue. The conference started and closed with the plenary sessions 'where science meets society: putting risk assessment in context' and 'staying relevant in a changing world', respectively.

Guidance on the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern approach in food safety assessment.

The Scientific Committee confirms that the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is a pragmatic screening and prioritisation tool for use in food safety assessment. This Guidance provides clear step-by-step instructions for use of the TTC approach. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are defined and the use of the TTC decision tree is explained.

Scientific motivations and criteria to consider updating EFSA scientific assessments.

EFSA is committed to assess and communicate the risks occurring in the food and feed chain from farm to fork and to provide other forms of scientific advice. This work, carried out by EFSA since its inception, has resulted in the adoption of thousands of scientific assessments. EFSA is obliged to re-assess past assessments in specific regulatory contexts such as those on food and feed additives, active substances in plant protection products and genetically modified food and feed.

The influence of thresholds on the risk assessment of carcinogens in food.

The risks from exposure to chemical contaminants in food must be scientifically assessed, in order to safeguard the health of consumers. Risk assessment of chemical contaminants that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic presents particular difficulties, since the effects of such substances are normally regarded as being without a threshold. No safe level can therefore be defined, and this has implications for both risk management and risk communication.

What is a benefit in relation to food consumption?

The identification and characterization of benefits as a consequence of consumption of food, food constituents or nutrients used to be neglected in comparison to the assessment of risks because the safety of food had priority. Interest in benefit assessment is the consequence of the realisation that both adverse and positive effects on health can follow the consumption of the same food or food constituent and that a balance between the two should be the aim. Moreover, proven benefits in connection with food are the basis of health related claims on food labels.