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Conference and World Food Day 2017

EFSA’s work on communications

Stef Bronzwaer, MD, MPH, PhD
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established as an independent source of scientific advice and to communicate on risks associated with the food chain, thereby contributing to ensuring a high level of consumer protection and maintaining confidence in the EU food supply.

By communicating on risks in an open and transparent way based on the advice of its scientific expert panels, EFSA contributes to improving food safety in Europe and to building public confidence in the way risk is assessed.
Fulfilling the Authority’s mandate on risk communications presents a number of challenges, not least due to the range and breadth of the audiences with which EFSA communicates. The messages EFSA delivers not only has to be understood by specialist audiences, such as policymakers, the scientific community and industry but also, on a broader level, to be made relevant to the 500 million consumers of the European Union. It is essential that both these groups have confidence in the decision-making processes underpinning food law, its scientific basis and the structures and independence of the institutions protecting health and other interests.

The speaker will inform the audience on recent developments of EFSA’s work in risk communication, supported by examples of media material and videos produced by EFSA.