Talk:Beneris

Accompanying letter with the special issue

Dear colleague,

This issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology contains several articles about benefit-risk assessment of food. They originate from two research projects, QALIBRA and BENERIS, funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union. The projects were running during 2006 - 2009.

The two projects were answering an increasing need to look food issues from a wider perspective. In many cases, decisions were made based on quantitative risk estimates but only descriptive benefit estimates. The approach had its roots in chemical toxicology and risk assessment, which is justified when talking about compounds deliberately added to foods. However, it is not working well in situations where hazardous compounds are naturally or ubiquitously occurring in certain foods. If looking at risks only, the possible health benefits of that food would be ignored. The classical example of this, also tackled by both projects, is persistent pollutants, notably dioxin, in fatty fish such as salmon.

The articles look at risks and benefits from several different points of view. Some are methodological, some bring new information about current exposures to environmental pollutants. Overall, I hope that you find new and interesting information and ideas from the issue. You may look for more information from http://en.opasnet.org and http://en.opasnet.org/w/Beneris.

Enjoy reading.

Sincerely,

Jouni Tuomisto, chief researcher

National Institute for Health and Welfare

Foreword for the Qalibra-Beneris special issue in FCT

• The projects in two sentences. (Note. These bullet points are just for guidance for writing and will be removed from the final foreword.)

The current issue of Food and Chemical Toxicology contains several articles about benefit-risk assessment of food. They originate from two research projects, QALIBRA and BENERIS, funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of Research of the European Union, Food Quality and Safety Thematic Priority. The projects were running during 2006 - 2009.

• Background: what was done before this

The two projects were answering an increasing need to look food issues from a wider perspective. In many cases, decisions were made based on quantitative risk estimates but only descriptive benefit estimates. The approach had its roots in chemical toxicology and risk assessment, which is justified when talking about compounds deliberately added to foods. However, it is not working well in situations where hazardous compounds are naturally or ubiquitously occurring in certain foods. If looking at risks only, the possible health benefits of that food would be ignored. The classical example of this, also tackled by both projects, is persistent pollutants, notably dioxin, in fatty fish such as salmon.

The need to look at all health impacts using coherent methods was clearly identified by the European Commission. The Commission saw that research is needed to improve existing methods, and that improved methods should be accompanied by practical tools for implementation. Also, European Food Safety Authority EFSA tackled this need in 2006 by organising a colloquium about common metrics for health risks and benefits in food-related issues.

• What is the purpose of Beneris/Qalibra?

The overall objectives of QALIBRA were to develop a suite of quantitative methods for assessing and integrating beneficial and adverse effects of foods, and make them available to all stakeholders as web-based software for assessing and communicating net health impacts. Similarly, the general objective of BENERIS was to create a framework for handling complicated benefit-risk situations, and apply it for analysis of the benefits and risks of certain foods.

• How was it done?

Although the objectives were very similar, the projects used differen approaches to the problems. QALIBRA worked on a practical tiered approach, its implementation in a web tool, and end-user consultation and perception issues. BENERIS chose to do more theoretical work on open participation in assessments in general and also produce new scientific data about intakes and pollutant concentrations for practical assessments. Both the Commission and the projects agreed that keeping the projects separate but in close touch would enhance diversity and thus development of new useful ideas.

• What topics are covered?

Both projects developed websites and web tools for making benefit-risk assessments. QALIBRA focussed on a tiered approach guided by experts (http://www.qalibra.eu/tool/support/). BENERIS emphasised open participation in an assessment process and developed a method for open assessment and an open web-workspace supporting the method (http://en.opasnet.org/w/Open_assessment). Both web tools have their own niche and they are available to interested users.

In addition to the web tools, several case studies and original research studies were performed for applying and testing methods, tools, and websites.

QALIBRA looked at topics like... and publishes five articles in this issue. DESCRIBE ARTICLES HERE

BENERIS looked at the issues of pollutants and fish from several different perspectives. Three articles are presented in this issue. Many persistent pollutants exist in relatively high concentrations in fish, and many of these also have impacts on the fetus, infant, or child. Therefore it is of interest to study pollutant levels in situations where youg children can be exposed. Pollutant concentrations in placenta (pages ##-##) measures a large suite of pollutants to characterise exposure situations of the fetus. Health impacts of one major pollutant, methylmercury, on intelligence is estimated in a benefit-risk assessment including also healthy compounds of fish: Effects of docosahexaenoic acid and methylmercury on child’s brain development due to consumption of fish by Finnish mother during pregnancy (pages ##-##). Methylmercury is an issue also after birth. Exposures to methylmercury is studied in a third article Estimated intake levels for Finnish children of methylmercury from fish (pages ##-##).

• Main conclusions of outcomes.
• Impacts and relevance

QALIBRA and BENERIS have produced new understanding in the methods of benefit-risk assessment. QALIBRA has clarified the role and usefulness of tiered approach in managing the assessment process, and BENERIS has developed methods to open up the process to all interested parties in a manageable way. Also, there are web tools available for practical implementation. Fortunately, these tools are already being applied in and by other projects, thus ensuring that the research of QALIBRA and BENERIS not only has had theoretical relevance but also practical implications on how benefits are included in health assessments.

Helga Gunnlaugsdottir

Coordinator of QALIBRA

Jouni Tuomisto

Coordinator of BENERIS