Food toxicity and safety

Key Points • Despite the many potential health risks associated with foods, in practice the degree of risk associated with the modern food supply is extremely low. • By far the most important hazards of significance are those from biological agents: pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and a few toxic seafoods. • Trends to larger-scale production, longer distribution chains in the food supply, increased eating away from the home and the emergence of new pathogens means foodborne illness continues to be a significant public health issue. • The assessment of the safety of food additives is led internationally by JECFA, but each individual country still develops and determines their own local regulations and food standards. • The ADI is defined as the amount of a chemical that might be ingested daily, even over a lifetime, without appreciable risk to the consumer • Genetically modified foods, novel foods and nano-materials pose new challenges for traditional safety assessment processes but, as the food supply becomes increasing global, food regulations about food safety are becoming more harmonized internationally.