On November 12, 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opened a public consultation on the draft guidance for the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach “as a screening and prioritization tool for the safety assessment of chemicals [in food], when hazard data are incomplete and human exposure can be estimated as low.”
The guidance provides a “clear step-by-step instruction for use of the TTC approach,” defines the inclusion and exclusion criteria, explains “the use of the TTC decision tree,” and outlines the TTC values for several specific classes of chemicals. Exposures below these values “are considered of low probability of adverse health effects.” Substances that should not be risk-assessed by the TTC approach include those “for which EU legislation requires the submission of toxicity data or when data are available that allow for a risk assessment or if the substance under consideration falls into one of the exclusion categories.”
Comments can be submitted until January 8, 2019.
Read more
EFSA (November 12, 2018). “Public consultation: Guidance on Threshold of Toxicological Concern approach.”
Reference
EFSA (2018). “Guidance on the use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern approach in food safety assessment.” (pdf).
