Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)

Abstract EFSA is requested to assess the safety of a broad range of biological agents in the context of notifications for market authorisation as sources of food and feed additives, enzymes and plant protection products. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) concept was developed by EFSA for its...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2009-12-01
Series:EFSA Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1431
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850093065663938560
author EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
author_facet EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
author_sort EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
collection DOAJ
description Abstract EFSA is requested to assess the safety of a broad range of biological agents in the context of notifications for market authorisation as sources of food and feed additives, enzymes and plant protection products. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) concept was developed by EFSA for its own use to provide a generic food safety assessment approach applicable across EFSA's scientific Panels, for biological agents notified for intentional use in the whole food chain. The safety of unambiguously defined biological agents at the highest taxonomic unit that is appropriate for the purpose for which an application is intended are assessed, considering if the body of knowledge is sufficient. Identified safety concerns for a taxonomic unit could be reflected as ‘qualifications’ when considered appropriate for an inclusion on the QPS list. The list of QPS recommended biological agents is reviewed and updated annually. The 2009 update reviews the previously assessed microorganisms including bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi and assesses several additional notifications concerning gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria and yeasts. Lactobacillus cellobiosus, L. collinoides, Propionibacterium acidopropionici and Oenococcus oeni were included in the QPS list. No filamentous fungi were included because of potential production of toxic metabolites. For the first time viruses were assed. Insect viruses (Baculovirideae) and in the case of zucchini yellow mosaic viruses the Potyvirideae family as the highest possible taxonomic unit were added to the QPS list. Bacteriophages were considered as not appropriate for the QPS list. A potential presence of antimycotic resistance of yeasts referred to on the QPS list was considered. It was concluded that yeast strains resistant to antimycotics used for treatment of infections in humans might be of public health concern.
format Article
id doaj-art-26fcf5d097ef4b7ca6102ec11e3b172d
institution DOAJ
issn 1831-4732
language English
publishDate 2009-12-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series EFSA Journal
spelling doaj-art-26fcf5d097ef4b7ca6102ec11e3b172d2025-08-20T02:42:00ZengWileyEFSA Journal1831-47322009-12-01712n/an/a10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1431Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)Abstract EFSA is requested to assess the safety of a broad range of biological agents in the context of notifications for market authorisation as sources of food and feed additives, enzymes and plant protection products. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) concept was developed by EFSA for its own use to provide a generic food safety assessment approach applicable across EFSA's scientific Panels, for biological agents notified for intentional use in the whole food chain. The safety of unambiguously defined biological agents at the highest taxonomic unit that is appropriate for the purpose for which an application is intended are assessed, considering if the body of knowledge is sufficient. Identified safety concerns for a taxonomic unit could be reflected as ‘qualifications’ when considered appropriate for an inclusion on the QPS list. The list of QPS recommended biological agents is reviewed and updated annually. The 2009 update reviews the previously assessed microorganisms including bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi and assesses several additional notifications concerning gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria and yeasts. Lactobacillus cellobiosus, L. collinoides, Propionibacterium acidopropionici and Oenococcus oeni were included in the QPS list. No filamentous fungi were included because of potential production of toxic metabolites. For the first time viruses were assed. Insect viruses (Baculovirideae) and in the case of zucchini yellow mosaic viruses the Potyvirideae family as the highest possible taxonomic unit were added to the QPS list. Bacteriophages were considered as not appropriate for the QPS list. A potential presence of antimycotic resistance of yeasts referred to on the QPS list was considered. It was concluded that yeast strains resistant to antimycotics used for treatment of infections in humans might be of public health concern.https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1431Qualified presumption of safetyQPSfoodfeed
spellingShingle EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ)
Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
EFSA Journal
Qualified presumption of safety
QPS
food
feed
title Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
title_full Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
title_fullStr Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
title_full_unstemmed Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
title_short Scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of QPS microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed (2009 update)
title_sort scientific opinion on the maintenance of the list of qps microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed 2009 update
topic Qualified presumption of safety
QPS
food
feed
url https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1431
work_keys_str_mv AT efsapanelonbiologicalhazardsbiohaz scientificopiniononthemaintenanceofthelistofqpsmicroorganismsintentionallyaddedtofoodorfeed2009update