Updated list of QPS-recommended biological agents for safety risk assessments carried out by EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) asked the Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) to deliver a scientific Opinion on the maintenance of the list of qualified presumption of safety (QPS) biological agents. The QPS approach was developed by the EFSA Scientific Committee to provide a harmonised generic pre-evaluation to support safety risk assessments of biological agents intentionally introduced into the food and feed chain, in support of the concerned scientific Panels and Units in the frame of market authorisations. The taxonomic identity, body of knowledge, the safety concerns in relation to pathogenicity and virulence, and the safety for the environment of those microbiological agents are assessed. Safety concerns identified for a respective taxonomic unit (TU) are, where possible and reasonable in number, reflected as ‘qualifications’ that are assessed at the strain level by the EFSA’s scientific Panels. Useful links on EFSA QPS EFSA topic on QPS: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/qualified-presumption-safety-qps Link to the virtual issue on QPS on Wiley Online Library: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1002/(ISSN)1831-4732.QPS Versions history: Versions 1 and 2 were substituted by version 3 – all are associated with the QPS Panel statement EFSA 7: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until September 2017: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5131 Version 4 is associated with the QPS Panel statement EFSA 8: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until March 2018: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2018.5315 Versions 5 and 6 were substituted by version 7 – all are associated with the QPS Panel statement EFSA 9: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until September 2018: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5555 Version 8 is associated with the QPS Panel statement EFSA 10: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until March 2019: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5753 Version 9 is associated with the QPS Panel statement EFSA 11: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until September 2019: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.5965 and with the Scientific Opinion on the update of the list of QPS-recommended biological agents intentionally added to food or feed as notified to EFSA (2017-2019): https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2020.5966 Version 10: updates version 9 following the update of the qualification of Bacillus velezensis as: ‘absence of toxigenic potential and absence of aminoglycoside production ability’ - applied in the QPS Statement part 11 (ON-5965) and in the 2019 Scientific Opinion (ON-5966). Version 11: updates version 10 following the addition of the Bacillus circulans ‘for production purposes only’ - applied in the QPS Statement part 13 (ON-6377) and in the 2019 Scientific Opinion (ON-5966). Version 12 updates version 11 following the addition of the Bacillus paralicheniformis with the qualifications 'absence of toxigenic activity’ and ‘absence of genetic information to synthesize bacitracin'; and adding Schizochytrium limacinum, which is a synomym for Aurantiochytrium limacinum, - applied in the QPS Statement part 14 (ON-6689) and in the 2019 Scientific Opinion (ON-5966). Version 13 updates version 12 following the addition of Haematococcus lacustris synonym Haematococcus pluvialis, recommended for QPS status with the qualification ‘for production purposes only’. Some other changes related to taxonomy and qualifications are described in the QPS Statement part 15 (ON-7045). Version 14, update of version 13, is related to QPS Statement part 16 (ON-7408). Note: As of January 2022 the updated list is provided only as excel file format.