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OHEJP JIP MATRIX

At request from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), VKM has identified food groups and food items consumed by the Norwegian population that are relevant for monitoring regarding content of one or more undesirable chemical substances (Figure 1). Undesirable chemical substances were defined as chemical substances in food that may constitute a potential health risk. Paid open access

OHEJP Project ORION

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing. Background Gene technology has allowed for the transfer of genes between organisms and species, and thereby to design altered genotypes with novel traits, i.e. GMOs. A new paradigm started in the early 2000s with the development of genome-editing techniques. Unlike traditional genetic modification techniques resulting in insertion of foreign DNA fragments at random locations in the genome, the new genome-editing techniques additionally open for a few single nucleotide edits or short insertions/deletions at a targeted site in an organism’s genome. These new techniques can be applied to most types of organisms, including plants, animals and microorganisms of commercial interest. An important question is how the novel, genome-edited organisms should be evaluated with respect to risks to health and the environment. The European Court of Justice decided in 2018 to include genome-edited organisms in the GMO definition and hence in the regulatory system already in place. This implies that all products developed by genome-editing techniques must be risk-assessed within the existing regulatory framework for GMOs. The European and Norwegian regulatory frameworks regulate the production, import and placing on the market of food and feed containing, consisting of or produced from GMOs, as well as the release of GMOs into the environment. The assessment draws on guidance documents originally developed by EFSA for risk assessment of GMOs, which were drawn up mainly to address risks regarding insertion of transgenes. The new genome-editing techniques, however, provide a new continuum of organisms ranging from those only containing a minor genetic alteration to organisms containing insertion or deletion of larger genomic regions. Risk assessment of organisms developed by genome editing The present discourse on how new genome-editing techniques should be regulated lacks an analysis of whether risk assessment methodologies for GMOs are adequate for risk assessment of organisms developed through the use of the new genome-editing techniques. Therefore, this report describes the use of genome-editing techniques in food and feed production and discusses challenges in risk assessment with the regulatory framework. Specifically, this report poses the question as to whether the EFSA guidance documents are sufficient for evaluating risks to health and environment posed by genome-edited plants, animals and microorganisms. To address these questions, the report makes use of case examples relevant for Norway. These examples, intended for food and feed, include oilseed rape with a modified fatty acid profile, herbicide-tolerant and pest-resistant crops, sterile salmon, virus-resistant pigs and hornless cattle. The report considers all aspects of the stepwise approach as described in the EFSA guidance documents. Conclusions The inherent flexibility of the EFSA guidance makes it suitable to cover health and environmental risk assessments of a wide range of organisms with various traits and intended uses. Combined with the embedded case-by-case approach the guidance is applicable to genome-edited organisms. The evaluation of the guidance demonstrates that the parts of the health and environmental risk assessment concerned with novel traits (i.e. the phenotype of the organism) may be fully applied to all categories of genome-edited organisms. ............

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) initiated this work to examine the extent to which organisms developed by genome-editing technologies pose new challenges in terms of risk assessment. This report considers whether the risk assessment guidance on genetically modified organisms, developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), can be applied to evaluate potential risks of organisms developed by genome editing.

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Report from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) 2019:16. Microplastics; occurrence, levels and implications for environment and human health related to food. Opinion of the Steering Committee of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. Source at https://www.vkm.no/. The steering committee of VKM has self-initiated a mandate for an opinion on microplastics based on recently published international and/or national reports complemented with literature from December 2016 to February 2019. The mandate requested a summary of the state of knowledge on the presence of microplastics in the environment and the implications for the ecosystem, terrestrial and aquatic organisms, food production and human health. An overview of main national and international ongoing initiatives was also requested, and highlighting of data gaps where specific Norwegian data was needed.

publishedVersion

Source at https://vkm.no/download/18.7d363f6e16d16151068849d0/1568620629508/Ranking%20of%20substances%20for%20monitoring%20in%20foods,%20drinks%20and%20dietary%20supplements.pdf The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) requested the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) to provide an overview of substances in foods, drinks and dietary supplements that may constitute a potential health risk for humans, based on the VKM members’ expert judgements. VKM was further requested to perform a ranking of these substances. Additionally, VKM should give an overiview of the foods, drinks and dietary supplements most relevant for monitoring, and describe what would be the adequate sampling procedure and number of samples. Monitoring procedures were included to ensure that the monitoring performed is representative for the occurrence of the substances in foods, drinks and/or dietary supplements consumed by the Norwegian population. The substances requested to be included were food additives and flavourings, substances used in food contact materials, environmental contaminants, process-induced substances and natural toxins. Substances not to be included were veterinary medicine residues, illegal pharmaceuticals and pesticide residues. The overview provided by VKM included substances belong to the following groups and subgroups of substances: Natural toxins; with the sub-groups mycotoxins, plant toxins, marine and freshwater algae toxins Metals and metalloids Persistent organic pollutants (POPs); with the sub-groups brominated flame retardants, dechloranes, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs), non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (NDL-PCBs), perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and siloxanes Substances in food contact materials; with the sub-groups bisphenols and phthalates Flavourings Additives; with the sub-groups nitrites and nitrates, phosphates, sweeteners and synthetic antioxidants Process-induced contaminants; with the sub-groups acrylamide, esterified 3- and 2- monochloropropane-1,2-diol (MCPD), glycidyl fatty esters (GEs), furans, heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) «Other substances» Trace elements The ranking of the substances is based on inherent toxicity (hazard) and level of exposure (both occurrence and intake). In addition, vulnerable groups, adequacy of toxicity data and lack of exposure data were considered. A simple methodology was chosen. More advanced methodology may be used in later updates of this ranking, if found useful.

Source at https://vkm.no/ The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) and Norwegian Environmental Authority (NEA) asked the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (Vitenskapskomiteen for mattrygghet, VKM) for an opinion on factors associated with the introduction of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) to Norway. VKM appointed a working group consisting of two members of the Panel on Biological Hazards, one member of Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, and two external experts to prepare the answer to the questions. The Panel on Biological Hazards has reviewed and revised the draft prepared by the working group and approved the opinion. Mattilsynet og Miljødirektoratet har bedt Vitenskapskomitéen for mattrygghet (VKM) om å besvare spørsmål knyttet til mattrygghet og dyrehelse etter at den uhelbredelige sykdommen Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) nylig ble påvist hos en villrein og senere hos to elger i Norge. VKM nedsatte en arbeidsgruppe bestående av to medlemmer fra Faggruppen for hygiene og smittestoffer, ett medlem fra Faggruppen for dyrehelse- og velferd samt to eksterne eksperter, for å utarbeide en vurdering knyttet til de stilte spørsmålene. Faggruppen for hygiene og smittestoffer har lest utkast til rapporten og godkjent vurderingen.

The papers of the thesis are not available in Munin: 1. Lorentzen, G., Olsen, R. L., Bjørkevoll, I., Mikkelsen, H. & Skjerdal, O.T.: 'Survival of Listeria monocytogenes in muscle of cod (Gadus morhua L.) during saltcuring and growth during chilled storage of rehydrated product', Food Control, Volume 21, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 292-297 (Elsevier - publisher's restrictions). Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2009.06.012 2. Lorentzen, G., Ytterstad, E., Olsen, R.L. & Skjerdal, O.T.: 'Thermal inactivation and growth potential of Listeria innocua in rehydrated salt-cured cod prepared for ready-to-eat products', Food Control, Volume 21, Issue 8, August 2010, Pages 1121-1126 (Elsevier - publisher's restrictions). Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.01.006 3. Lorentzen, G., Mennen, S., Olsen, R.L. & Skjerdal, O.T.: 'Invasiveness of Listeria monocytogenes strains of Caco-2 cells in response to a period of extreme salt stress reflecting salt-curing and rehydration of cod (Gadus morhua L.)', accepted manuscript, later published as Food Control, Volume 22, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 1040-1045, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.12.013 Salt-cured and dried salt-cured (klipfish) cod (Gadus morhua L.) are highly appreciated. Salt fish and klipfish are mainly prepared by rehydration to lower the level of salt. The rehydrated cod can be used in several dishes and consumption of these products has been considered safe due to the high level of salt. The overall aim of the thesis was to study the food safety of salt-cured fish products using Listeria spp. as an indicator. Initially, we studied the survival of Listeria spp. in muscle of cod during salt-curing and growth during chilled storage of the rehydrated product. These experiments demonstrated that long term exposure to high salt concentrations did not eliminate Listeria spp., and that Listeria spp. being present in the fish prior to salt-curing could recover and grow in rehydrated salt-cured cod during chilled storage. Afterwards, the thermal inactivation at 55 and 60 ºC and growth potential at 4 and 8 ºC of L. innocua in rehydrated salt-cured cod was studied. The results demonstrated that both level of salt stress and matrix i.e. rehydrated or fresh cod muscle, did affect the thermal inactivation of L. innocua towards non-linearity with an upward concavity. During subsequent storage of the thermally treated samples, the lag time of the strain was 9-10 days regardless of salt stress level or matrix. In the raw products (controls), however, the lag time varied with salt stress level and matrix. Finally, the ability of L. monocytogenes to cause listeriosis after salt stress, i.e. invasiveness, was studied. L. monocytogenes was exposed to either no salt or a salt stress period comparable to that applied in the production of salt-cured cod. The results show that extreme salt-stress exposure attenuated the invasiveness of L. monocytogenes whereas the invasiveness was significantly higher for the non salt stressed strains. As the invasiveness correlates with bacterial virulence, the results suggests that L. monocytogenes represent a lower food safety risk when exposed to salt-curing with extreme NaCl concentrations than when exposed to a constant and low level of salt. Saltfisk og klippfisk (tørket saltfisk) av torsk (Gadus morhua L.) er høyt verdsatte produkter og råvarene tilberedes ved utvanning. Den utvannede fisken kan brukes i flere typer retter inkludert spiseklare produkter. På grunn av det høye saltinnholdet har det vært ansett som trygt å spise utvannede produkter av fullsaltet fisk. Formålet med arbeidet har vært å studere matvaretryggheten med hensyn på Listeria spp. i fiskeprodukter som har vært fullsaltet. Listeria monocytogenes er en matvarebåren humanpatogen bakterie som finnes i miljøet og den er blant annet påvist i fersk fisk, skalldyr, kjøtt, melk, fjørfe og i vegetabilier. L. monocytogenes kan gi listeriose som er en alvorlig sykdom. I innledende studier ble overlevelse av Listeria spp. under salte prosessen studert. Deretter ble vekst studert i den påfølgende kjølelagringen. Listeria spp. overlevde salting, og den vokste ved kjølelagring av det utvannede produktet. I det påfølgende arbeidet ble varmeinaktivering og vekstpotensial for L. innocua under kjølelagring studert. Resultatene viste at både matriks (utvannet saltfisk eller fersk torsk) og grad av saltstress påvirket varmeinaktiveringen av L. innocua. Ved lagring av de varmebehandlede produktene varte lagfasen 9-10 dager uavhengig av matriks eller saltstress, mens det var variasjoner mellom lagfasenes varighet for de rå produktene. Til tross for at L. monocytogenes overlever høye salt konsentrasjoner, er det ikke rapportert listerioseutbrudd tilknyttet disse produktene. Det ble derfor studert om saltstress kan påvirke sannsynligheten for at L. monocytogenes gir listeriose. Forsøkene ble utført med Caco-2 celler (humane epitelceller fra tykktarm), der invaderingsevnen (invasivitet) for saltstresset L. monocytogenes ble studert. Invasivitet korrelerer med bakteriens evne til å forårsake listeriose. Resultatene viste at saltstress på tilsvarende nivå som ved saltfisk produksjon reduserte invasiviteten for L. monocytogenes. Bakterier som ikke hadde vært utsatt for ekstremt saltstress hadde en signifikant høyere invasivitet. Resultatene antydet at L. monocytogenes som har vært utsatt for et høyt salt stress er mindre farlig enn når de bare har vært eksponert for et konstant lavt salt innhold.