Newswise — Reston, Va.; October 17, 2014 — The Society of Toxicology (SOT) is partnering with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to organize colloquia on the intersection between toxicology and food safety. The “SOT-FDA Colloquia on Emerging Toxicological Science Challenges in Food and Ingredient Safety” series will consist of four colloquia focused on topics with toxicological implications for public health. Partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), a dietary source of trans fat, are the subject of the first colloquium in the series, occurring on Friday, November 7, 2014, from 8:15 am to 1:00 pm in College Park, MD.
“This SOT-FDA colloquia series will provide discussion on the state-of-the-art science as it relates to food safety to better prepare those whose role it is to make regulatory decisions,” says SOT President Norbert E. Kaminski. “What toxicologists discover can influence evaluation of food safety as well as dietary choices so working with the FDA on these issues fits directly with our mission to create a safer world.”
PHOs are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oils and are commonly used because foods containing these oils are less likely to spoil. With increasing interest in the health effects of PHOs, the November 7 colloquium titled “Complexities in Evaluating Human Clinical and Observational Data for Ingredient Safety Assessment: Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHOs) as a Case Study” will explore what toxicological scientists know about PHOs, including:
- Advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to studying the health effects of PHOs;
- What human data are available and lacking regarding the health effects of PHOs; and
- How scientists relate changes in dose to health effects.
Presenters and panelists include SOT members and scientists from institutions around the world, including the University of Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, US Environmental Protection Agency, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA), and Biofortis Clinical Research.
To attend the colloquium in person or through the webcast, register by visiting the Colloquium website. There is no cost to attend in person or through the webcast. No on-site registration will be available. Please note that while this event is open to the public, it is not designed to be a public forum for discussion of regulatory issues.
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About the SOT-FDA Colloquia on Merging Toxicological Science Challenges in Food and Ingredient SafetyIn 2012, the Society of Toxicology (SOT) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recognizing the organizations’ shared “interest in scientific progress in the disciplines that directly and indirectly affect human and animal health and medicine.” The MOU outlined the opportunity for and necessity of collaboration between the SOT and FDA in producing training events, workshops, and conferences to continue to engage the newest toxicology in the FDA’s work.
This four-part series, with each colloquium focused on a different topic in the area of food safety, builds upon the commitment made in 2012. The events in the series are being developed to advance food ingredient safety and food safety and are open to all scientists, policymakers, and others interested in toxicology related to food safety. The colloquia are not designed to be a public forum for discussion of toxicology regulatory issues or to provide advice to the FDA. All of the colloquia will be webcast by SOT.
For more information about the SOT and toxicology, visit the Society online at www.toxicology.org.
For more information about the FDA, visit the agency online at www.fda.gov.
Media Contacts:Michelle Werts Society of Toxicology 703.438.3115 ext. 1640 [email protected]
Marianna Naum, PhDUS Food and Drug Administration240.402.2748[email protected]
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