EFSA ‐ RACFC Chemical Contamination of Food Crisis Preparedness Training 2022 with Central and Eastern European Countries

Abstract

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) runs 2 crisis preparedness training events annually and selected chemical contamination as the scientific domain for its 2022 activities. The 4 specific exercise learning objectives of the 2022 EFSA and the Bulgarian Risk Assessment Center on Food Chain (RACFC) crisis preparedness workshop were: (a) to improve how and when collaboration takes place during a chemical contamination crisis response; (b) to understand individual roles and those of others in a chemical contamination crisis response; (c) to understand the purpose of selected EFSA tools and how to use them; and (d) to rehearse risk communication. Working with the RACFC and crisis training contractors Instinctif Partners, EFSA developed a 2.5-day programme of activities undertaken in working groups and plenary from 14-16 September 2022. In total there were 20 participants from 5 EU Member States and 2 EU candidate countries plus 2 observers from Bulgaria, 1 from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and 1 from EFSA. Day One focused on briefings delivered in a combination of remote and in-person modes, covering areas such as applicable EU legislation, EFSA's and Bulgaria's responses to previous chemical contamination incidents, and crisis communication. Updates and training were provided on tools such as iRASFF, EFSA's Rapid Assessment of Chemical Exposure (RACE) tool and its OpenFoodTox database. An overview of cadmium toxicity anticipated the scenario used for a simulation exercise on Day Two. A detailed debrief on Day Three yielded 20 practical recommendations for improvement in the areas of (a) risk assessment; (b) EFSA tools; (c) risk communication; and (d) collaboration. The objectives of the event were achieved, based on recorded outcomes and feedback provided by participants in an evaluation survey.