Credibility of EFSA’s verdict that glyphosate is not carcinogenic plummets further

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published the declarations of interest of member state experts involved in its re-assessment of glyphosate – but the publication has opened a Pandora’s box, according to an article for EU Food Policy.[1]

This is because some experts who advised EFSA on whether glyphosate is carcinogenic or not have refused to fill in a Declaration of Interests (DoI) form. EFSA has printed blank forms on its website.

EFSA says that it cannot force member state experts to fill in the forms.

Furthermore, EU Food Policy points out that EFSA does not screen the DoIs and one of the experts, Corrado Lodovico Galli, who sits on the mammalian toxicology working group, has previously been the subject of a breach of trust procedure at EFSA after he failed to declare that he worked for chemical firms (see EU Food Policy May 13 2011).

His DoI dates back to February 2011 – so it’s more than four years old. It states his involvement with the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), which is funded by companies that market glyphosate, including Monsanto. The DoI also declares that he worked as a consultant for chemical companies.

Many of the other experts that EFSA used in the re-assessment of glyphosate work for the same government department or body which will decide whether to ban the chemical in June 2016 or to renew the authorisation.

A case in point is Mark Williams, who works for DG SANTE, which will be responsible for proposing whether to renew or prohibit the authorisation.

This week, EU Food Policy says, MEPs questioned the credibility of EFSA over its finding that glyphosate is "unlikely to cause cancer".

Notes

1. EU Food Policy, EFSA publishes blank DoIs, glyphosate expert worked for chemical firms. 4 Dec 2015. Behind paywall. Subscribe here: http://www.eufoodpolicy.com/