Countdown to 2027 - maximising use of NAMs in food safety assessment: closing the gap for regulatory assessments in Europe.

Safety assessments of regulated food products in the European Union (EU) largely rely on experimental animal studies. Currently, the European Commission is developing a roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessment across all relevant pieces of legislation, including foods, while the ambition of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is that by 2027, new scientific developments, i.e., new approach/non-animal methods (NAMs), will be integrated into assessments leading to "the minimisation of animal testing". However, considering recent requests that have been made to conduct new animal studies for some regulated products, significant progress is required to minimise further and ultimately replace animal testing in the food safety environment. To advance this, we review several NAMs amenable for use in food safety assessment and reflect on their presence in EU food safety regulation and sectoral guidance. For many years, proposals to incorporate NAMs into food safety assessments have been made with questionable regulatory impact. Therefore, we present several amendments which could be made to the EU food regulatory system and current strategies towards phasing out animal testing which, if taken up, could lead to a tangible difference in the extent of animal testing within the food safety environment. Recognising that research may be required for some of these NAMs to enhance regulatory uptake, we propose potential follow-up projects that complement recent research & innovation (R&I) needs published by EFSA which food safety stakeholders could coordinate or participate in.