OpenFoodTox 3.0: EFSA's chemical hazards database

EFSA's Chemical Hazards Database: OpenFoodTox

When evaluating the safety of chemicals, EFSA scientists determine whether and how substances may be hazardous for humans, animals and/or the environment. This includes identifying critical health effects, the levels at which these effects may occur to derive a reference point¹ as the basis for a reference value², and, when possible, establishing health‑based guidance values³ or other reference values.

EFSA’s Chemical Hazards Database – OpenFoodTox – provides structured summaries of hazard information for individual substances drawn from EFSA’s risk assessments. The database covers substances assessed across EFSA’s remit, including food additives and flavourings, pesticides, contaminants, food contact materials, feed additives and nutrients.

Since its creation in 2002, the European Food safety Authority (EFSA) has produced risk assessments for more than 7,800 unique substances in over 2,650 Scientific Opinions, Statements and Conclusions through the work of its Scientific Panels, Units and Scientific Committee. 

OpenFoodTox provides open access to structured hazard data supporting these assessments, including:

• Substance characterisation and identifiers
• Human health, animal health and ecotoxicological hazard assessments
• Toxicological reference values and reference points
• Physicochemical properties
• Toxicokinetic and ADME data
• Environmental fate and behaviour data

The database supports transparency and facilitates reuse of EFSA data for scientific and regulatory purposes. It can be used by risk managers, risk assessors at scientific advisory bodies, other scientistis and researchers, or anyone with an interest in chemical risk assessment.

What's new? OpenFoodTox (OFT) 3.0 

• IUCLID 6 (i6z) dossiers archives (.zip file)
• OFT3.0 export repository (.xlsx file)

The External Scientific Report describing the work done is available at 10.2903/sp.efsa.2026.EN-10099

This version replaces version 6 to include EFSA Opinions, Statements and Conclusions up to December 2025.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Legal notice

Openfoodtox is a compilation of chemical and toxicological information on chemicals assessed by EFSA since its creation and included in already published scientific opinions. The database represents the data that was available to EFSA at the time of assessment and does not provide any reassurance on whether any of the chemicals are suitable or not for food applications in Europe. EFSA owns this database and its content. This database does not disclose any commercially sensitive or otherwise confidential information. Reference to the original scientific output should be provided in case of re-use for legal or regulatory purposes within or outside the European Union.

EFSA will update OpenFoodTox on a regular basis. EFSA does not warrant that the use of this database is error free. In case of discrepancy between the data provided in the original scientific output and that in this database, preference shall be given to the former. Comments from users, should be written to IDATA@efsa.europa.eu.

Definitions

¹ Reference Point: defined point on an experimental dose–response relationship for the critical effect. This term is synonymous to Point of departure (USA). Reference points include the lowest or no observed adverse effect level (LOAEL/NOAEL) or benchmark dose lower confidence limit (BDML), used to derive a reference value or Margin of Exposure in human and animal health risk assessment. In the ecological area, these include lethal dose (LD50), effect concentration (EC5/ECx), no (adverse) effect concentration/dose (NOEC/NOAEC/NOAED), no (adverse) effect level (NEL/NOAEL), hazard concentration (HC5/HCx) derived from a Species Sensitivity Distributions (SSD) for the ecosystem (EFSA Scientific Committee,2018).

² Reference Value: the estimated maximum dose (on a body mass basis) or the concentration of an agent to which an individual may be exposed over a specified period without appreciable risk. Reference values are established by applying an uncertainty factor to the reference point. Examples of reference values in human health include acceptable daily intake (ADI) for food and feed additives, and pesticides, tolerable upper intake levels (UL) for vitamins and minerals, and tolerable daily intake (TDI) for contaminants and food contact materials. For acute effects and operators, the acute reference dose (ARfD) and the acceptable operator exposure level (AOEL). In animal health and the ecological area, these include safe feed concentrations and the Predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) respectively (EFSA Scientific Committee, 2018).

³ Guidance on safe consumption of substances that takes into account current safety data, uncertainties in these data, and the likely duration of consumption.