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The risk analysis framework with the elements risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. Adapted from WHO (2005).
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Background
Risk-benefit assessment (RBA) of foods aims to assess the combined negative and positive health effects associated with food intake. RBAs integrate chemical and microbiological risk assessment with risk and benefit assessment in nutrition.
Scope and Approach
Based on the past experiences and the methodological differences between the un...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... use of risk assessments has traditionally been an integrated part of a common risk analysis framework ( Fig. 1), where risk assessment is done by risk assessors who provide scientific advice to support decision making by risk managers, such as food authorities or food producers, on the potential risks associated with food consumption. Risk commu- nication is an essential part of the risk analysis, both between risk as- sessors and risk managers, and between assessors, managers and other stakeholders (FAO/WHO, ...
Context 2
... use of risk assessments has traditionally been an integrated part of a common risk analysis framework ( Fig. 1), where risk assessment is done by risk assessors who provide scientific advice to support decision making by risk managers, such as food authorities or food producers, on the potential risks associated with food consumption. Risk commu- nication is an essential part of the risk analysis, both between risk as- sessors and risk managers, and between assessors, managers and other stakeholders (FAO/WHO, ...
Similar publications
Risk-benefit assessment is the comparison of the risk of a situation to its related benefits, i.e. a comparison of scenarios estimating the overall health impact. The risk-benefit analysis paradigm mirrors the classical risk analysis one: risk-benefit assessment goes hand-in-hand with risk-benefit management and risk-benefit communication.
The vari...
Citations
... The first ground-breaking studies were conducted in the beginning of the millennium (Havelaar et al., 2000 andRenwick et al., 2004), followed by European projects such as the Benefit-Risk Analysis of Foods (BRAFO) project (Boobis et al., 2013), which developed methodologies and frameworks for conducting RBAs and performed various case studies. In 2010, the EFSA Scientific Committee published the scientific opinion, Guidance on human health risk-benefit assessment of foods, and various articles have been published that promote the use of a common language and understanding of the applications and utility of RBA for decision support, including Nauta et al., 2018 andPires et al., 2019. By default, RBAs of foods are multidisciplinary and combine research within the fiel ds of nutrition, epidemiology, toxicology and microbiology. ...
... The process of an RBA follows that of a traditional risk assessment; that is, it includes four steps: identification of adverse and beneficial health effects, characterization of adverse and beneficial health effects (dose-response characterization); exposure assessment (for chemical contaminants, microbiological hazards and nutrients or intake assessment of food); and risk and benefit characterization. RBAs, however, include a fifth step in which the characterized risks and benefits are compared or integrated (Hoekstra et al., 2012;Nauta et al., 2018 andTijhuis et al., 2012). The five steps of an RBA are illustrated in Figure 1. ...
Evolving science and debate concerning the benefits and risks of consuming fish have resulted in confusion over the years, and national and international food safety agencies have recognized the need to provide useful, clear and relevant information in this regard to consumers. In October 2023, FAO and WHO held the second Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption to analyse new scientific evidence on the matter and draw relevant conclusions and recommendations. The overall conclusions of the exercise show that consuming fish provides energy, protein and a range of other nutrients important for health, and that there are benefits related to fish consumption during all life stages (pregnancy, childhood and adulthood). General population studies show that the benefits and individual effects of fish consumption vary depending on overall diet, the characteristics of consumers, and the fish that is consumed.
... Risk-benefit assessment (RBA) of foods is a decision-support tool that estimates the public health impact of foods and diets by evaluating both beneficial and adverse health effects in different exposure (e.g., often consumption) scenarios (3,7). The evidence generated in RBAs aims to support priority-setting and formulation of policies that are coherently aligned across several disciplines (i.e., nutrition, toxicology, and microbiology) (8,9). RBA builds on the risk assessment framework by mirroring its four steps (i.e., hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment and risk characterization) in a parallel assessment for beneficial effects (10,11). ...
... The selected themes were associated with one or more components of the risk-benefit analysis paradigm (Figure 1), as proposed by Nauta et al. (8). Participants were divided into three groups. ...
... The risk-benefit analysis paradigm and the discussions' themes of the workshop. Adapted from Nauta et al., licensed under CC BY 4.0(8).Frontiers in Nutrition 04 frontiersin.org challenges, needs, and opportunities identified in the workshop and clustered by the authors are presented inFigure 2. ...
Policy decisions in public health require consideration and evaluation of trade-offs for which transparency and science-based evidence is needed. Improvement of decision-support tools is essential to help guide food policy decisions that promote healthy diets and meet the challenges of food systems without compromising food security, food safety, and sovereignty. Risk–benefit assessment of foods (RBA) is an established methodological approach designed to inform policy decisions within the area of nutrition and food safety. Despite methodological developments, translation of RBA findings into policies is still limited. In this context, a stakeholder workshop held in May 2023 gathered RBA experts and food regulators from Europe to identify the challenges, obstacles and opportunities in using evidence generated through RBAs to inform food policy decisions. A structured process was implemented to collect their views through online surveys, breakout groups, and plenary discussions. As a secondary objective, food regulators’ views on other approaches for holistic risk assessment fit for food systems analysis were also explored. This paper summarizes the main findings of the workshop and discusses policy implications and future perspectives to improve the area of RBA and its role in food policymaking.
... The risks and benefits of food consumption have recently become an important health topic (Nauta et al., 2018). In recent years, new tools such as the risk-benefit assessment (RBA) tool have been developed to provide guidance on dietary habits and establish new policies (EFSA, 2010). ...
... When the RBA question is related to a food product, the possible adverse and positive health effects are associated with different Risk-benefit assessment of shifting to alternative dietary patterns www.efsa.europa.eu/efsajournal food compounds or contaminants (Nauta et al., 2018). RBA is an emerging multidisciplinary tool and until now has been used either for fish (Hoekstra et al., 2012;Cardoso et al., 2018), meat (Mota et al., 2021), cereal-based food (Assunc ßão et al., 2021) or rice consumption (Fang et al., 2021), the substitution of red and processed meat with fish (Thomsen et al., 2018), and the substitution of unprocessed red meat with pulses (Fabricius et al., 2021). ...
The consumption of plant-based meat alternatives has recently transitioned from the niche market tothe mainstream. However, changing the dietary patterns may lead to new health challenges referred topossible higher exposure to natural toxins found in plant-based food. The present project aimed totrain the fellow in the field of chemical risk assessment and provide a comprehensive overview on howa change towards plant-based meat alternatives may represent a driver for emerging risks. Thus,within the EU-FORA programme the fellow engaged in the following activities: (i) perform a systematicreview to analyse the distribution of natural toxins in the most common plant-based meat alternativesin Europe, (ii) risk–benefit assessment of shifting from meat-based diets to soy-based meatalternatives by modelling the substitution of meat with soy, and (iii) determine the occurrence ofmycotoxins in plant-based meat alternatives from local markets in Parma, Italy. The fellow learnt thechemical risk assessment procedures applied by the researchers from the Department of Food andDrug of Parma University, thus gaining an in-depth expertise in all the steps. A risk–benefit assessmentwas performed modelling the intake of aflatoxin B1-contaminated soy-based meat analogues. Thehealth impact due to intake of soy and exposure to aflatoxin B1 was estimated. Within the researchgroup, the fellow also worked on developing a multi-mycotoxin determination method for plant-basedmeat alternatives matrices. The results of the project provide a picture reflecting the occurrence ofnatural toxins in plant-based meat alternatives and the need of upgraded regulation frameworks thattake into account new products and dietary patterns. The EU-FORA fellowship was a great opportunityfor the fellow to expand his professional network and increase his expertise in food safety by gainingnew skills in chemical risk assessment, risk–benefit assessment and analytical chemistry.
... Risk-Benefit Assessment (RBA) of Foods is briskly developing to support complex public health decision-making processes related to nutritional, microbiological and toxicological issues. With the intention to tackle public health matters with a comprehensive and integrative approach, methodologies have evolved, and several challenges were identified and must be overcome to facilitate the use of RBA (1)(2)(3)(4). The Research Topic on "Advances in Public Health with Risk-Benefit Assessment of Foods" comprises seven articles including original research and reviews, providing recent progress and perspectives in the field. ...
... The risk analysis framework with the elements risk assessment, risk management and risk communication (adapted fromNauta et al., 2018). ...
... As previously described in the literature, risk analysis and risk assessment have become key principles of food law in general, as well as in the operations of international organisations working on standards including Codex Alimentarius, and the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures that are adopted by the World Trade Organisation (Henson and Caswell, 1999;Nauta et al., 2018). Risk analysis has formed the structured approach by which to analyse a risk and to identify the measures that can be taken to deal with this risk (Henson and Caswell, 1999;Meyer, 2006). ...
... It was applied when estimates of current incident cases or DALY of a given health effect irrespective of risk factors were not available. Incidence of disease was estimated due to the exposure using dose-response models (Nauta et al., 2018). The disease burden of each health effect was quantified in DALYs, composed of years lived with disability (YLDs) and years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs). ...
... It combines epidemiological and incidence data and estimates the number of attributable cases of a certain health outcome due to exposure to Palmaria palmata (Nauta et al., 2018). It was applied when disease or DALY envelopes were available. ...
Abstract As the world population rapidly grows, there is a clear need for alternative food sources, particularly for the provision of protein. Seaweed is one such alternative source of protein that requires greater investigation. In this context, a working programme within the European Food Risk Assessment (EU‐FORA) Fellowship Programme framework was developed at National Food Institute – Technical University of Denmark. This Programme is an initiative of the EFSA with the aim to build a European risk assessment community. The purpose of this technical report is to describe the activities in which the fellow was involved. As part of the Research Group for Risk–Benefit, the fellow performed a risk–benefit assessment of seaweed Palmaria palmata gaining an in‐depth expertise in all the steps. The health impact of Palmaria palmata consumption was estimated, considering its high nutritional value but also highlighting concerns towards some components. Simultaneous to the work on the risk–benefit, the fellow also worked within the Research Group for Food Allergy, specifically on the allergenicity risk assessment of a plant‐based novel protein (seaweed protein) using different laboratory assays. Seaweed protein digestibility was assessed, and its digestion products were characterised and assessed for immunogenicity. Finally, the fellow collaborated with the Research Group for Microbial Biotechnology and Biorefining in the development of a novel food (alfalfa protein) application dossier to be submitted to EFSA, gaining expertise in the risk assessment of a novel food. In conclusion, the present working programme, together with additional activities and training provided by different institutions, enabled the fellow to gain a broader perspective in food safety, particularly concerning seaweed, novel foods and the safety assessment of novel proteins.
... A Avaliação de risco-benefício (ARB) é uma disciplina relativamente nova que integra o conhecimento científico em nutrição, toxicologia e microbiologia, com a epidemiologia humana (Boobis et al., 2013). A ARB utiliza metodologias desenvolvidas para a Avaliação de Risco, implementando um processo paralelo para a avaliação de benefícios associados aos mesmos alimentos (Nauta et al., 2018;Tijhuis et al., 2012). ...
... A Avaliação de risco-benefício de alimentos é um ferramenta multidisciplinar que combina investigações em nutrição, epidemiologia, toxicologia e microbiologia, cada uma com seus próprios conceitos e tradições. Como consequência dessa multidisciplinaridade, há várias definições para alguns dos mesmos conceitos centrais (Nauta et al., 2018). Neste capítulo, optamos por aplicar as definições usadas por Nauta et al. (2018). ...
... Como consequência dessa multidisciplinaridade, há várias definições para alguns dos mesmos conceitos centrais (Nauta et al., 2018). Neste capítulo, optamos por aplicar as definições usadas por Nauta et al. (2018). ...
... An appropriate approach to investigate the impact of such a dietary shift is Risk-Benefit Assessment (RBA). RBA in the field of food and nutrition is an emerging decision-support tool that aims to evaluate risks and benefits in a harmonised approach in order to estimate the overall health impact of exposure (or lack of exposure) to a particular food, food component, and diet, as well as the substitution of one food item by another (Nauta et al., 2018;Membré et al., 2021). Towards this goal, RBA integrates knowledge on nutrition, toxicology, microbiology, chemistry and epidemiology for comprehensive health impact assessments (Assunção et al., 2019;Boué et al., 2015;Pires et al., 2019). ...
... Briefly, the first step includes the problem definition that aims to formulate the risk-benefit question. This formulation includes defining the target population (general or a subpopulation), the level of aggregation (food component, food or diet) and the type of assessment (qualitative or quantitative) (Boobis et al., 2013;Nauta et al., 2018). Then, the scenarios are defined, i.e. the description of hypothetical or real situations for which the health impact will be assessed. ...
The project entitled “Novel foods as red meat replacers – an insight using Risk Benefit Assessment methods (NovRBA)” aimed to develop and test harmonised Risk Benefit Assessment (RBA) methods to estimate the overall health impact of replacing red meat with an edible insect species (a novel food). Based on an appraisal of insect products that are more likely to be consumed in Europe, project participants decided to compare the consumption of a beef patty consisting of 100% minced beef meat (reference scenario) with a patty in which beef meat would be fully replaced by an edible insect dough (alternative scenario). The target population was adults. The RBA steps included the problem definition, the identification, prioritization and selection of components together with associated health outcomes. The assessment included the selection of dose‐response relationships based on their internal validity (hazard characterisation) and an exposure assessment of nutrient intake and exposures to microbiological hazards and compounds of toxicological concern associated with the reference and alternative scenarios. All health outcomes were quantified according to the disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) composite metric. The project standardised the pivotal step of selecting model components through developing a tiered approach to prioritise components establishing the “long”, the “short” and the “final” list. The final list comprised thirteen nutrients, two heat‐resistant spore‐forming bacteria and inorganic arsenic. The RBA model was developed using @Risk® add‐in software using Monte Carlo simulations considering variability and/or uncertainty. Overall the expected change in DALYs when moving from the reference scenario to the alternative one was estimated to be around 8,753 DALYs (per 100,000 population) saved in Greece, 6,572 DALYs in Denmark and 21,972 DALYs in France. This is mainly due to the overall beneficial nutritional and microbiological impacts. The proposed actions to communicate the project’s findings can be summarised in providing understandable scientific evidence to policy makers; creating opportunities for consumers to engage in‐depth with information about insect consumption; making use of multipliers who enjoy a high level of trust and establishing informational exchange with trusted sources.
... As explained in section 3, an RBA may be relevant for foods or food groups containing both beneficial and hazardous chemicals, such as fish. RBA is best performed as part of a tiered approach, comparing at least two scenarios (Boobis et al., 2013;Boué et al., 2015;Nauta et al., 2018;Tijhuis et al., 2012;Verhagen et al., 2021), and stop once enough information is available to weigh the risk and benefit of eating a food. When taking an RBA further, there are ample opportunities and challenges. ...
Background
In this paper, the European chapter of the International Society for Exposure Science (ISES Europe) provides a vision on how dietary exposure sciences can contribute to address the challenges in the field of food safety and nutrition due to changes in food systems by answering the following question: How can we assess timely and accurately changes in dietary exposure to hazardous chemicals (and mixtures thereof) or intake of nutrients due to changes in food production, food consumption and food composition?
Scope and approach
We first describe the current role of dietary exposure sciences and the instruments that are being used to assess dietary exposure in food safety and nutrition. This is followed by an analysis of current changes and developments, primarily at the European level, relevant for food safety and nutrition. This results in a list of identified challenges for dietary exposure sciences.
Key findings and conclusions
We thus focus on the timely and accurate assessment of the impact of changes and developments on consumer's and public health, from the perspective of dietary exposure sciences. This includes making better use of chemical analysis, dietary exposure assessment and human biomonitoring, providing increased insight in food composition and nutrients, taking into account the impact of new technologies on human exposure, and making better use of risk-benefit assessment.
