{"title":"EFSA Strikes Again: A Commentary on Flawed Analysis","authors":"P. Pressman, R. Clemens, A. Hayes","doi":"10.37745/ejfst.2013/vol10n31323","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In 2009, Marcia Angell, the former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote that it was simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgement of trusted physicians or scientific authorities both to develop and to interpret data. We are concerned that this rather stunning indictment may increasingly describe some of the work of the regulatory agencies tasked to oversee public health, and in particular food safety. In the foregoing commentary we focus upon one recent and as yet unsettled instance involving the recommendations made by the European Food Safety Authority about food products containing Aloe vera gel and associated hydroxyanthracene (HAD) compounds. It is not our intention to suggest avenues for future research; rather, it is a call for more rigorous and precise interpretation of the best available science in support of decisions about safety. Moreover, it is our hope that the analysis of this case will illuminate the ways in which even the finest regulatory body may be prone to a significant error in a rush to judgment about novel products.","PeriodicalId":199134,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Food Science and Technology","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Food Science and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.37745/ejfst.2013/vol10n31323","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In 2009, Marcia Angell, the former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote that it was simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgement of trusted physicians or scientific authorities both to develop and to interpret data. We are concerned that this rather stunning indictment may increasingly describe some of the work of the regulatory agencies tasked to oversee public health, and in particular food safety. In the foregoing commentary we focus upon one recent and as yet unsettled instance involving the recommendations made by the European Food Safety Authority about food products containing Aloe vera gel and associated hydroxyanthracene (HAD) compounds. It is not our intention to suggest avenues for future research; rather, it is a call for more rigorous and precise interpretation of the best available science in support of decisions about safety. Moreover, it is our hope that the analysis of this case will illuminate the ways in which even the finest regulatory body may be prone to a significant error in a rush to judgment about novel products.
2009年,《新英格兰医学杂志》(New England Journal of Medicine)的前主编马西娅·安吉尔(Marcia Angell)写道,人们再也不可能相信已发表的大部分临床研究,也不可能依靠值得信赖的医生或科学权威的判断来开发和解释数据。我们担心,这一令人震惊的指控可能会越来越多地描述负责监督公共卫生,特别是食品安全的监管机构的一些工作。在前面的评论中,我们将重点放在最近的一个尚未解决的实例上,涉及欧洲食品安全局关于含有芦荟凝胶和相关羟基蒽(HAD)化合物的食品的建议。我们无意为未来的研究提出建议;相反,它呼吁对现有的最佳科学进行更严格、更精确的解释,以支持有关安全的决策。此外,我们希望对此案的分析能够阐明,即使是最优秀的监管机构,在急于对新产品做出判断时,也可能容易犯重大错误。