Data
Collection of accurate and reliable data is a prerequisite for informed risk assessment A specialised field of applied science that involves reviewing scientific data and studies in order to evaluate risks associated with certain hazards. It involves four steps: hazard identification, hazard characterisation, exposure assessment and risk characterisation and risk management The management of risks which have been identified by risk assessment. It includes the planning, implementation and evaluation of any resulting actions taken to protect consumers, animals and the environment. Both scientists carrying out risk assessments and decision-makers in Europe need up-to-date and comparable information across Member States on hazards found in the food chain and on food consumption.
By collecting data at the EU-level we can find out for example how often foods are contaminated with bacteria or chemicals and at what levels. This information, combined with reliable information on food consumption in the Member States, makes it possible for risk assessors to assess consumer exposure Concentration or amount of a particular substance that is taken in by an individual, population or ecosystem in a specific frequency over a certain amount of time to a certain hazard A substance or activity which has the potential to cause adverse effects to living organisms or environments both at the EU- and country-level. The assessments also allow scientists to make recommendations for the prevention, reduction, and monitoring of these hazards in the food chain.
Access to harmonised data supports risk managers in making informed decisions to protect and promote consumer health; for instance in assessing how dietary intakes of salt compare with targets set for healthy diets. Such data can also be utilised in evaluating the effectiveness of EU actions and programmes aimed at reducing the occurrence The fact or frequency of something (e.g. a disease or deficiency in a population) happening of biological and chemical risks in food and in animal populations.
Cooperation in data collection across Europe is key in order to harmonise approaches and facilitate information sharing between countries. EU-wide data can also reflect important differences between Member States.
Ongoing and completed assessments
EFSA's role
At EFSA, ongoing data collection activities to assess and monitor trends over time are carried out by the Integrated Data Unit. The unit deals with the collection of data on food consumption and occurrence of chemical residues and contaminants in food and feed for chemical exposure assessments at European level. The Unit also collects data on occurrence of zoonoses, zoonotic A term given to diseases and infections that can be transmitted between animals and humans agents in food, feed and animals as well food-borne outbreaks in the EU. In addition it gathers data on antimicrobial resistance The ability of microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, fungi) to survive exposure to antimicrobials. This phenomenon, driven largely by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial agents (e.g. antibiotics, fungicides used as plant protection agents, etc), makes infections harder to treat and poses a significant threat to public health. in certain zoonotic agents and occurrence of microbiological contaminants.
To support the work of its Scientific Committee and panels EFSA also carries out data collection on specific issues to help:
- prepare risk assessments in response to Commission requests and work undertaken on EFSA’s own initiative;
- support the re-evaluation of authorised substances, such as food additives and flavourings;
- support the development of guidance for risk assessment.
Calls for data are published on the EFSA website.
Biological hazards
EFSA analyses data on zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and food-borne outbreaks across the EU. Data are submitted annually by the Member States. Zoonoses are infections and diseases that are transmissible Capable of being passed between individuals in the same species, as well as between different species (e.g. from animals to humans) between animals and humans. EFSA publishes, in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), annual One Health integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems Summary Reports based on this data. ECDC provides for and analyses data on the zoonoses cases in humans.
Moreover, EFSA analyses the EU-wide baseline surveys on zoonotic agents, such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, in animal and food-populations and on antimicrobial resistance. These surveys are fully harmonised and therefore provide comparable values for all Member States. Survey results are used to set EU reduction targets or to consider needs for specific actions at EU-level.
Contaminants
EFSA collects available chemical contaminants occurrence data submitted by EU Member States and other interested parties, such as research institutions, academia, and food business operators.
More specifically, in the framework of Articles 23 and 33 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 EFSA has received from the European Commission a mandate (M-2010-0374) to collect all available data on the occurrence of chemical contaminants in food and feed. These data can be consequently used in EFSA’ s scientific opinions and reports on contaminants in food and feed.
In addition, regarding contaminants, Member States shall submit to the European Commission control plans on contaminants, as a part of multi-annual national control plan (according to Article 109 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625) as defined in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/931 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932.
In relation to the above mentioned contaminants’ control plans, and as specified in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932, by 30 June, the Member States shall transmit to EFSA all data gathered under the control plans referred to in Article 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932.
The collection of available occurrence data on contaminants also supports the risk managers in setting legislative limits and monitoring in the food chain levels of chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, and specifically Annex I, presents the available maximum levels for certain contaminants in food. As indicated in the Regulation, the food listed in Annex I shall not be placed on the market and shall not be used as a raw material in food or as an ingredient Any substance deliberately added to a foodstuff which will remain in the finished product, even in an altered form in food where it contains a contaminant at a level which exceeds the maximum level set out in Annex I.
Food Additives and Food Flavourings
EFSA collects data on food additives and flavourings to ensure their safety and regulatory compliance within the European Union. Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 sets out rules for food additives, including a Union list of authorised substances and their maximum permitted levels (MPLs). Through annual data calls and monitoring programs, EFSA invites national authorities, researchers, industry, and other stakeholders to submit analytical and use data on food additives. Similarly, Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 governs food flavourings, providing a list of authorised substances, with EFSA encouraging stakeholders to contribute data on their analysis, use, and presence.
Food Composition
EFSA’s collects food composition data from national providers in EU Member States under procurement projects. The first version of the EFSA food composition database was established in 2012. It contains data for seven countries - Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, and United Kingdom. Vitamins and minerals included are calcium, copper, cobalamin, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, thiamin, iron, selenium, vitamin Dietary substance needed in very small amounts to support normal growth and maintenance of health in humans and animals. Most vitamins are 'essential' as they are not made within the body B6, vitamin E, vitamin k and zinc.
These data have been used by EFSA experts to establish dietary reference values[SI1][AS2] – the complete set of nutrient An element or compound needed for normal growth, development and health maintenance. Essential nutrients cannot be made by the body and must, therefore, be consumed from food recommendations and reference values, such as population Community of humans, animals or plants from the same species reference intakes, the average requirement The level of a nutrient in the diet that meets the daily needs of half the people in a typical healthy population, adequate intake A dietary recommendation used when there isn't enough data to calculate an average requirement. An adequate intake is the average nutrient level consumed daily by a typical healthy population that is assumed to be adequate for the population's needs level and the lower threshold A dose or exposure below which adverse effects are not detected intake The amount of a substance (e.g. nutrient or chemical) that is ingested by a person or animal via the diet.
Currently EFSA is working on a procurement project to develop and publish a comprehensive Open Access European Food Composition database (EU FCDB). By mid-2026, EFSA will have available data on many more nutrients from 14 countries.
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/microstrategy/food-composition-data
Food Consumption
EFSA’s Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database is a source of information on food consumption in the European Union, containing detailed data for several EU countries.
The database plays a key role in the evaluation of the risks related to possible hazards in food in the EU and allows estimates of consumer exposure to such hazards, a fundamental step in EFSA’s risk assessment work. The database is also relevant to other fields of EFSA’s work, such as the assessment of nutrient intakes of the EU population.
OpenFoodTox
When evaluating the safety of chemicals, scientists determine if and how they may be hazardous for humans, animals and/or the environment. They seek to identify critical health effects for these populations, the amount of the substance likely to trigger the effects, and then where possible establish a safe level.
OpenFoodTox is a comprehensive chemical hazards database developed by EFSA to support the evaluation of chemical safety for humans, animals, and the environment. This open-source tool provides detailed substance characterisation, links to EFSA's outputs, and relevant European legislation. In addition, it also includes physicochemical properties and pharmacokinetic/ toxicokinetic data, making it a valuable "one-click" tool for accessing critical health effects and safe levels. In summary, OpenFoodTox serves as a valuable resource for scientific advisory bodies and stakeholders engaged in chemical risk assessment, offering downloadable summary data sheets in PDF or XLSX formats.
Pesticides
Member States control the compliance with maximum residue levels of pesticides in food and feed and submit the results to the Commission and EFSA. EFSA then prepares an annual report that provides an overview of pesticide residues in food observed throughout the EU and assesses the exposure of consumers through their diets. The outcomes serve as a basis for decision makers to possibly consider new or revised management measures.
All matters related to legal limits for pesticide residues in food and feed are covered by Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. This regulation also contains provisions on official controls of pesticides residues in food of plant and animal origin that may arise from their use in plant protection.
Plant health
Under a mandate from the European Commission, EFSA is committed to promoting plant health by regularly updating and maintaining a detailed database of host plants susceptible to Xylella spp., a major plant pathogen Organism (e.g. bacterium, virus and parasite) that can cause disease. As per Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, EFSA was tasked by DG SANTE to provide technical assistance concerning Xylella fastidiosa, a request initiated in 2016 and extended through 2026.
EFSA's database on X. fastidiosa is updated biannually, taking into account various subspecies and strains, with a focus on European isolates. It includes data on non-susceptible plants and varieties, and it prioritises plants confirmed to be infected by at least two detection methods.
The 12th version of the database, published in Zenodo within the EFSA Knowledge Junction community in July 2025, covers literature up to December 2024. A detailed report on the update of the Xylella spp. host plant database is available in the EFSA Journal.
To further facilitate accessibility and enhance understanding, EFSA has developed a visualization dashboard, enabling stakeholders to interact with and interpret the data effectively.
Veterinary medicinal product residues
The presence of residues of veterinary medicinal products residues (VMPR) or unauthorised pharmacologically active substances in food may pose a risk for public health. The EU legislative framework defines maximum limits of VMPR permitted in food (Regulation 37/2010). It also requests Member States to perform annual official monitoring programmes for the control of the presence of these substances in live animals and food of animal origin (Regulation 2022/1644). Compliance with the maximum limits is also checked. Each year, the results of EU countries’ official control programmes are collected and summarised by EFSA in annual reports that provide an overview of VMPR in food observed throughout the EU and the control result compliance with the maximum limits of VMPR.
Veterinary medicinal product residues - National Control Plans (NCP)
EFSA supports the implementation of national control plans (NCP) for veterinary medicinal product residues (VMPR) under Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Regulations (EU) 2022/1644 and 2022/1646 set minimum sampling frequencies and require NCPs to list substance-animal-product combinations and analytical methods used. EU Member States and other reporting countries must carry out official controls on authorised and prohibited substances in veterinary medicines through multiannual plans covering risk-based and randomised surveillance for production and imports. These plans are submitted annually to EFSA, and all data are monitored using a harmonised model aligned with EFSA’s Chemical Monitoring system, enhancing data validation, analysis, and reporting.
EU framework
EFSA’s Founding Regulation 178/2002, states that the Authority should collect and analyse data in its fields of expertise. EFSA carries out two different types of data collection activities:
harmonised collection of EU-wide data required by EU regulations on an ongoing basis in order to assess and monitor trends over time and help inform risk management policies and measures;
specific data collection to support risk assessments and other tasks.
EFSA’s Founding regulation (Art. 33) states that EFSA shall search for, collect, analyse and summarise particularly data on
food consumption,
food composition,
incidence The number of new events occurring within a specified time period within a defined geographical area; for example, the number of flu cases per year in Europe and prevalence The proportion of a population found to have a condition of biological risks,
occurrence of contaminants and chemical residues, and
occurrence and use levels of food additives and food flavourings
Regulation 396/2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides requires that EFSA collate and analyse results of national controls on pesticide Substance used to kill or control pests, including disease-carrying organisms and undesirable insects, animals and plants residues in food and feed. A consumer exposure assessment One of the key steps in risk assessment, this relates to a thorough evaluation of who, or what, has been exposed to a hazard and a quantification of the amounts involved has to be carried out by EFSA before concluding on the safety of a maximum residue level.
Regulation 2022/1644 on official controls on residues of veterinary medicinal products in food requires EFSA to collect national results of Veterinary Medicinal Product Residues (VMPR) in food and feed. On the basis of this data, EFSA prepares annual reports on the results from the monitoring of veterinary medicinal product residues in live animals and animal origin food products.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932 on official controls on chemical contaminants requires EFSA to collect national results of contaminants in food, in accordance with the national control plans previously submitted to the European Commission
Directive 2003/99/EC on the monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents assigns EFSA the task of examining data submitted annually by Member States on zoonoses, zoonotic agents, food-borne outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance. Based on this data, every year EFSA prepares Community Summary Reports in close collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC).
In addition, data collection is needed for other tasks EFSA is required to carry out; for example, the re-evaluation of substances authorised in foods such as food additives. Data on specific issues such as animal welfare practices and indicators, farming systems, nutrition The science of how diet relates to the body's need for sustenance or ecological and environmental information may also need to be collected for the risk assessments and guidance documents produced by EFSA's scientific panels.