Principles and methods for the risk assessment of chemicals in food
Environmental health criteria 240
Overview
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) have served as scientific advisory bodies to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to member countries and other interested parties since
the 1960s. Considerable changes have taken place in the procedures and complexity of assessments of chemicals in food since the preparation of the original guidance documents for the work of JECFA and JMPR (EHCs 70 and 104). In order to reflect significant
advances in chemical analysis, toxicological assessment, and risk assessment procedures, this detailed monograph on the methods and principles for the risk assessment of chemicals in food was developed and published in 2009.
The monograph has
been developed so that the key chapters are stand-alone documents, which allows for update of specific chapters as required. The individual chapters as well as all other relevant parts of the document are published here separately:
- Front Matter (Preamble; Preface, Table of Content)
- Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Summary (English)
- Chapter 1 : Introduction
- Chapter 2 : Risk Assessment and its Role in Risk Analysis
- Chapter 3 : Chemical Characterization, Analytical Methods and the Development of Specifications
- Chapter 4 : Hazard Identification and Characterization; Toxicological and Human Studies
- Chapter 5 : Dose-Response Assessment and Derivation of Health-Based Guidance Values
- Chapter 6 : Dietary Exposure Assessment of Chemicals in Food
- Chapter 7 : Risk Characterization
- Chapter 8 : Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides and Veterinary Drugs
- Chapeter 9 : Principles Related to Specific Groups of Substances
- Annex 1 : Glossary of Terms
- Annex 2: Dose Conversion Table
- Cumulative Index
Updated in 2020
Since the publication in 2009 science has further evolved as well as risk assessment practices. FAO and WHO have started several projects to update (sub)chapters as follows:
Section 4.5 Genotoxicity
The updated section 4.5 on genotoxicity published in November 2020 will be incorporated in the online version of the Environmental health criteria 240 in the coming months.Chapter 5: Dose-Response Assessment and Derivation of Health-Based Guidance Values
The updated chapter 5 on dose-response assessment and derivation of health-based guidance published in December 2020 will be incorporated in the online version of the Environmental Health Criteria 240 in the coming months.Chapter 6: Dietary Exposure Assessment of Chemicals in Food
The updated chapter 6 on Dietary Exposure Assessment of Chemicals in Food published in November 2020 will be incorporated in the online version of the Environmental health criteria 240 in the coming months.Section 9.1.4.2 Enzymes
The updated section 9.1.4.2 on enzymes published in November 2020 will be incorporated in the online version of the Environmental health criteria 240 in the coming months.
Other translations of the executive summary
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