Evaluation of the MedISys EFSA Tab menu in the areas of animal and plant health, GMOs, pesticides and biological hazards

This study presents preliminary data on the evaluation of the food and feed categories set up by EFSA and the JRC on the news alert systemMedISys in the areas of animal and plant health, biological hazards, pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This evaluation was conducted over a week during which a total of 2049 articles were collected and assessed. The average time to screen these articles was 71 min/d of which animal health was the most-time consuming area to be screened (i.e. 45 min/d). Among these articles, 5 signals of emerging issues (i.e. new hazards and/or new/increased exposure/susceptibility) were recorded in the animal and plant health and GMOs areas. New hazards were only reported in the area of plant health and new exposures in the areas of animal health and GMOs. Overall, the sensitivity of the categories corresponding to the percentage of relevant articles was low (18-32%, depending on the area), with the exception of the categories in the GMOs area (65%). Results on further fine-tuning of the GMOs and plant health areas, with the support of RIKILT, the JRC and the PLH Unit and Panel are presented. Finally, conclusions and recommendations on new implementation strategies for a more efficient media monitoring of food and feed safety issues are made.