Question

Committee that evaluate food additives, contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and residues of veterinary drugs in food is called as
1. JECFA
2. MRA
3. JEMRA
4. JMPR

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : JECFA

JECFA has evaluated more than 2,500 food additives, approximately 40 contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants, and residues of approximately 90 veterinary drugs.

JECFA:

•  It stands for Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.
• The Committee has also developed principles for the safety assessment of chemicals in foods that are consistent with current thinking on risk assessment and take account of developments in toxicology and other relevant sciences.
• For food additives, contaminants, and naturally occurring toxicants, the Committee:
  • ​elaborates principles for evaluating their safety; 
  • ​​conducts toxicological evaluations and establishes acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) or tolerable intakes; 
  • prepares specifications of purity for food additives; 
  • assesses intake.
• For residues of veterinary drugs in food, the Committee: 
  • elaborates principles for evaluating their safety; 
  • establishes ADIs and recommends maximum residue limits (MRLs);  
  • determines criteria for the appropriate methods of analysis for detecting and/or quantifying residues in food.

MRA:

• It Stands for Microbiological risk assessment.
• It is a new tool in managing and controlling microbiological hazards in foods, with the objectives of reducing food-borne disease and facilitating food trade. 

The objectives of MRA:

• Raise awareness among policy-makers and risk managers of the principles and procedures for microbiological risk assessment in the context of risk management.
• Explain the concept of microbiological risk assessment.
• Explain the type of data, other resources, and setup required for microbiological risk assessment and factors influencing these.
• Describe the work of the organizations involved in risk assessment at the national or international level, their outputs, and relevant resources material.

JEMRA:

• It stands for Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment. 
• JEMRA is an international scientific expert group that is administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide scientific advice on microbiological hazards including expert advice on risk management options that are aimed at improving food safety.
• JEMRA is tasked with the evaluation of different aspects of microbiological hazards in the food supply.

JMPR:

•  It stands for FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues.
• The JMPR is comprised of the Joint Meeting of the FAO Panel of Experts on Pesticide Residues in Food and in the Environment and the WHO Core Assessment Group.
• It carries out a toxicological evaluation of pesticide residues, normally resulting in an estimate of the ADI. In addition,
• It proposes maximum residues limits (MRLs) for individual pesticides in or on specific commodities.