Stakeholders Meeting on Acetaldehyde

Background

In September 2025, the European Commission (EC) issued a mandate to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), requesting a safety evaluation of the flavouring substance acetaldehyde [FL-no: 05.001] in relation to its genotoxicity¹.

The mandate has been assigned to the EFSA Panel on Food Additive and Flavourings (FAF) and the drafting of the scientific output is being tasked to its Working Group (WG) on Flavourings². Advice along the process is being sought from the cross-cutting Scientific Committee Working Group (WG) on Genotoxicity³. The evaluation process is ongoing.

Objectives of the meeting

The purpose of this meeting was:

• to illustrate the background to this request received from the EC and the procedural steps applied by EFSA in addressing this mandate,
• to present the preliminary considerations of the FAF Panel on the existing information related to the genotoxicity of acetaldehyde,
• to explore availability of other relevant additional data that could be made available by interested parties to support the weight of evidence,
• to clarify the timeframe within which these data could be made available to EFSA vis-à-vis the timelines for the completion of the scientific assessment.

This event brought together more than 100 participants, including representatives from industry organisations, consultants attending in a personal capacity, the European Commission, EU Agencies, EFSA experts and EFSA staff. In line with EFSA’s commitment to transparent and inclusive stakeholder engagement, the event was structured to foster active participation. Stakeholders were invited, during the registration process, to express their interest in contributing to the programme. The International Organization of the Flavour Industry (IOFI) delivered a presentation outlining an industry study plan intended to generate data that may support the genotoxicity assessment of acetaldehyde when used as a flavouring substance. A dedicated Q&A session further encouraged open dialogue, prioritising questions submitted in advance, while also addressing additional queries raised by participants during the meeting.

¹ https://open.efsa.europa.eu/questions/EFSA-Q-2025-00509 

² https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/wgs/food-ingredients-and-packaging/wg_flavouringsFAF.pdf 

³ https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-02/minutes-wg-genotoxicity.pdf