PARC researchers have provided new scientific data to support the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in its ongoing assessment of Alternaria toxins in food and feed. The work was carried out through PARC’s Rapid Response Mechanism, which helps address urgent regulatory data needs by mobilising scientific expertise across Europe.

The project also highlights a specific challenge in chemical safety: unlike many industrial chemicals, natural toxins often have no manufacturer responsible for generating hazard data, even though they may occur in food and pose risks to human and animal health.

Unlike many industrial chemicals, natural toxins have no manufacturer responsible for generating hazard data. Yet these substances can occur naturally in food and feed, making their assessment essential for protecting human and animal health.

Researchers from PARC Work Package 5 recently provided new data to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), helping address critical knowledge gaps on Alternaria toxins identified during EFSA’s ongoing risk assessment.

Gilles Riviere highlights:

This work shows how PARC can respond quickly to concrete regulatory needs by generating targeted scientific evidence where important data is still missing. In this case, the results support EFSA’s ongoing assessment of Alternaria toxins and contribute to stronger evidence base for food safety decision-making.

Why this work was needed

EFSA is currently updating its scientific opinion on the risks associated with Alternaria toxins in food and feed. Previous studies suggested potential genotoxic, immune, and endocrine effects, but key data required for risk assessment were missing.

To address this urgent need, EFSA activated PARC’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), a tool designed to quickly mobilise scientific expertise across Europe.

What PARC delivered

Within a short timeframe, scientists generated new in vitro toxicity and metabolism data on selected Alternaria toxins, including studies on cellular effects, metabolic pathways, and intestinal transport.

These results were shared directly with the EFSA working group, supporting the ongoing update of the risk assessment.

Gilles Riviere adds:

The project brought together complementary expertise to generate new data within a short timeframe, including information on toxicity, metabolism and intestinal transport. This helps improve the understanding of how these toxins may affect human health and support their assessment in a regulatory context.

A success story for PARC’s Rapid Response Mechanism

This project illustrates how PARC can rapidly respond to urgent regulatory questions by coordinating expertise across European research institutions.

By filling key data gaps for natural toxins – substances where no industry actor is responsible for generating safety data – PARC helps ensure that risk assessments remain robust and protective for both public health and food safety.

Gilles concludes:

This is a strong example of the added value of PARC. Through the Rapid Response Mechanism, the partnership can mobilise expertise across Europe to address urgent scientific questions with direct relevance for regulation and public health.

To learn more about PARC’s Rapid Response Mechanism, read our previous news item on how it was mobilised to address data gaps on Alternaria toxins here.

You can also explore further background on mycotoxins in this podcast and related materials from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) here ↗.