The assessment of the safety for the consumer of feed additives and additives added to foods of animal origin

Safe animal feed is important for the health of animals, the safety of the consumer of food of animal origin and for the environment. There is a close link between the safety of animal feed and the foods derived from the animals given this fodder. Additives are purposely added to animal feed or to food of animal origin with the aim to improve the quality of the feed and the quality of the food of animal origin. Assessing the safety of feed additives or additives added to food of animal origin requires a multidisciplinary approach to asses all aspects relevant to the intended use of that compound. The principles of the assessment of the safety of the consumer exposed to compounds via food from animal origin are described. An overview is given of the toxicity studies that are used to assess the safety, including the method to derive the safe intake for the consumer based on the outcome of the toxicity studies. The approach is illustrated by four examples of commercially available additives in order to illustrate how regulatory authorities, i.e. the European Food Safety Authority, evaluate the (absence of) potential health effects for consumers.