The safety of our food is determined in part by the presence of chemicals, some of which may not be permitted in foods. RIVM contributes to chemical food safety by supporting governments with risk assessment, consultancy, methodology development and more.

The Front Office Food and Product Safety operated by RIVM and RIKILT answers ad-hoc questions about the safety of food and consumer products posed by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).

When a chemical is found in a food product that is already on the market, a risk assessment can calculate whether it could pose a health hazard. A risk assessment can also determine before admission of a substance whether that substance is allowed to be in food products or may be used in food production – and if so, in which amounts. During an admission process for chemicals in food, threshold limits are derived for that substance. A risk assessment goes through various steps to determine whether there is a risk of health effects due to exposure to a chemical substance.

Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) is a computer program used to calculate exposure to chemical substances through food. This applies primarily to substances which could pose health hazards, such as lead, cadmium or acrylamide. However, MCRA can also be used to calculate nutrient intake. MCRA was developed for RIVM by Biometris (Wageningen University & Research Centre). The model is continually fine-tuned to integrate the latest insights regarding intake calculations, and developed for use in other applications.

Foodborne infections can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms. Proper hygiene will prevent contamination and further spreading. For instance, wash your hands before preparing dinner, and after each visit to the toilet. Also pay particular attention to separating your prepared and unprepared food. Put food in the refrigerator within two hours, chop your meat and vegetables on separate cutting boards and wash tea towels at 60 degrees.

These are risk assessments by the Front Office Food and Product Safety that have been published since 2014:

The presentations of the symposium are available for download.