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EURL-FIA

Food improvement agents (FIA) encompass a range of substances (food additives, flavourings, and enzymes) introduced to enhance various attributes of food products. Food additives help extend shelf life and maintain quality during production, packaging, and storage. Flavourings convey or modify the odour or taste of food. Lastly, enzymes have specific biochemical actions that serve technological purposes at any stage of the food chain.

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EURL FIA's primary mission is to optimise analysis methods and harmonise performance criteria. These tools, made available to official laboratories, are used to monitor the levels of additives and flavourings in foodstuffs and assess consumer exposure. The ultimate aim is to guarantee maximum food safety.

The EURL FIA will have the following responsibilities, among others:

Provide scientific and technical assistance to the European Commission.
Coordinate and assist the network of reference laboratories (NRLs) throughout the European Union.
developing, improving and implementing analytical methods while harmonising the criteria for evaluating analytical processes for food improvement agents within the network of NRLs.
to organise inter-laboratory trials to evaluate the performance of the NRLs.

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National Reference Laboratories across the EU

National authorities appoint National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) in EU Member States and EFTA countries. These laboratories operate within the framework of their respective European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs). The current addresses and contact data for the NRLs for Food Improvement Agents can be found here.

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