The Work Plan of the Scientific Committee is a ‘living’ document that is subject to annual review and adjustment. The work items are laid out by functional area in priority order. The titles used and priorities given may be subject to change. Each work item will be further developed in a more detailed mandate document outlining the full request for advice.
Completed Scientific Advice
1. Vitamin D: Scientific Recommendations for 5 to 65 Year Olds Living in Ireland.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 23.09.22.
2. Assessment of the safety of probiotics in food supplements.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 31.03.23.
3. Parameter/foodstuff combinations for consideration in the next Total Diet Study (TDS) and the selection of appropriate biomarkers to support risk assessment in Ireland.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 11.12.23 and 17.01.25.
4. The suitability of analytical methods for assessing food authenticity.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 13.08.24.
5. Risk ranking of microbiological hazards in food (2015-2019) .
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 28.11.25.
6. Scientific recommendations on food based dietary guidelines for adolescents.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 04.02.26.
7. Foodborne risk to human health of Hepatitis E virus in pigs and pigmeat in Ireland.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 13.02.26
8. Mitigation measures for dioxins and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in terrestrial farm animals with access to outdoor pastures.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 23.02.26
9. Evaluation of food hygiene rating systems and recommendations for Ireland.
Adopted by Scientific Committee on 25.02.26
Biological Safety Mandates
1. Recommendations on measures to achieve risk reduction of Salmonellosis from Salmonella Typhimurium in Ireland.
Request for advice pending.
2. A review of the science underpinning measures to prevent botulinum toxin formation by Clostridium botulinum and other Clostridia in food.
Request for advice pending.
3. Advice on optimal source attribution approaches within the limitations of the Irish surveillance systems in human, foods and animals.
Request for advice pending.
4. Risk assessment of Toxoplasma gondii in the Irish food chain.
Request for advice pending.
Chemical Safety Mandates
1. Review of the chemical safety risk ranking model .
Request for advice pending.
Public Health Nutrition Mandates
1. Safety and appropriateness of foods directed to sports people.
Request for advice pending.
Food Science and Technology Mandates
Completed.
Official Controls Mandates
1. Assessment of appropriate risk-based official control frequencies and development of semi quantitative (scoring) approaches for prioritisation of official controls.
Request for advice pending.
2. Advice on the use of bioinformatic data from Whole Genome Sequencing and Next Generation Sequencing to improve risk assessment and better inform official controls and risk management actions taken to protect public health.
Request for advice pending.