Protocol for Extensive literature search (ELS) for the maintenance and update of list of QPS-recommended biological agents

Protocol for Extensive literature search (ELS), relevance screening and article evaluation for the maintenance and update of list of QPS-recommended biological agents intentionally added to food an feed

An ELS of studies related to safety concerns for humans, animals, plants and/or the environment of
microorganisms recommended for the Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) 2019 list will be performed.
The process will be performed according to the following main steps:
 ELS for potentially relevant citations;
 Relevance screening to select the citations identified by the literature search, based on titles and
abstract and then full text;
 Evaluation of articles according to pre-specified categories of possible safety concerns;
 Discussion between experts to come to collective expert evaluation of the outcome, reflected in the
QPS Opinion and Panel Statements.
Considering the purpose of the QPS approach, a broad search will be performed.
The review questions will be broken down into key elements using the PECO conceptual model:
 Population of interest (P)
 Exposure of interest (E)
 Comparator (C)
 Outcomes of interest (O).