About the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
Reports and publications
An electronic summary with the main findings and conclusions of the meeting is published by the Joint Secretariat shortly after each meeting. Usually, the information is mainly in tabular format, including the details of ADIs and MRLs recommended. This is available on the website of JECFA at FAO and WHO.
The concise description of the key data used in the assessments, the evaluation of these data and the conclusions of the committee are published by WHO in the Technical Report Series. These reflect the view of the committee as a whole. In the very rare event in which some members cannot accept all of the conclusions, a minority report is included as an annex.
Toxicological and exposure assessment monographs are published in the WHO Food Additive Series (FAS). These monographs contain the detailed description and evaluation of all the biological and toxicological data considered in the evaluation and provide full references to the relevant literature. A detailed exposure assessment is also included.
The reports and toxicological monographs are available from the WHO/IPCS JECFA web site.
Specifications monographs on the identity and purity of food additives developed and agreed at meetings have been published in the Compendium of Food Additive Specifications (Food and Nutrition Paper 52) and are available from the FAO JECFA web site. A new Combined Compendium replaces the earlier edition and incorporates all the additions and revisions made since 1992, up to and including those contained in FNP 52 Addendum 13. It is being published as the first document under a new publication series, the FAO JECFA Monographs as Volume 1 - 3. Volume 4 of this first Monograph series will provide a reference for analytical methods and test procedures used in and referenced by the specifications and which replaces the previous Food and Nutrition Paper 5.
Monographs on veterinary drug residues, which summarize the data and the evaluations used for the recommendation of MRLs, have been published in the Food and Nutrition Paper Series 41 and are available from the FAO JECFA web site. New monographs will be published in the FAO JECFA Monograph series from 2006 onwards.
Information on the activities and output from JECFA meetings are available at the dedicated FAO and WHO web sites.