The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has released a guide on a risk assessment methodology for nanomaterials used as food additives and ingredients with a nutritional function.

In 2018, EFSA had already published a guide for the assessment of dossiers on nanoscience and nanotechnologies in applications such as food additives, pesticides, and food contact materials. While the ANSES methodology is based on similar concepts, it also proposes specific adaptations related to regulatory definitions, particle size measurements, dissolution properties, and hazard identification. The methodology will initially be tested on nanomaterials for which data is available, including titanium dioxide (E171), whose use as a food additive has already been suspended in France and is set to be banned across the EU as of 2022.

Further information is available here.