{"topic_id":"EFSA_FEEDAP_185th_Plenary_2025_11","category":"efsa","context":"---\ntopic_id: EFSA_FEEDAP_185th_Plenary_2025_11\ncategory: efsa\ntitle: \"EFSA FEEDAP Panel 185th Plenary — November 19-20 2025 Open Session (Chair: Prof. Roberto Edoardo Villa) — Guidance Updates on Target Animal Safety, Microorganisms, PARNUTS\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"EFSA FEEDAP Panel 185th Plenary Open Session PDF (9.5MB, downloaded from efsa.europa.eu 2026-07-21)\"\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-21\ntokens_estimated: 980\nverification:\n  method: substring_match_with_reference\n  claims: 11\n  passed: 11\n  date: 2026-07-21\n---\n\n# EFSA FEEDAP Panel 185th Plenary — November 19-20 2025 Open Session\n\nThe EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) held its **185th Plenary Meeting** on **November 19-20, 2025**, chaired by **Prof. Roberto Edoardo Villa**. The Open Session agenda was published by EFSA on 2025-12 (file: `Open Session FEEDAP 185 Plenary meeting_for publication_0.pdf`, 9.5MB).\n\nThis is the **most authoritative pre-2026 statement** of the FEEDAP Panel's regulatory direction for feed additives, including pet food additives under Reg (EC) 1831/2003. Three major guidance updates are in scope:\n\n## Agenda Item Highlights\n\n### Day 1 (November 19, 2025) — 14:00 onwards\n\n| Time | Item No. | Topic |\n|------|----------|-------|\n| 14:00 | 8 | Welcome and Apologies |\n| 14:05 | 9 | Brief introduction of Panel Members |\n| 14:15 | 10 | Presentation of the EFSA guidelines for Observers |\n| 14:20 | 11 | **Workplan FEEDAP** |\n| 14:50 | 12 | **Update on new mandates since the previous meeting** |\n| 15:00 | 13 | Feedback from the Scientific Committee/Scientific Panels, EFSA, the European Commission/EURL |\n| 15:15 | 14 | One Substance One Assessment update |\n| 15:45 | — | Coffee break |\n| 16:15 | 15 | Ongoing activities in relation to applications for feed additives (Front Desk, Risk Assessment Logistics, Legal Affairs Units) |\n\n### Day 2 (November 20, 2025) — 09:00 onwards\n\n| Time | Item No. | Topic |\n|------|----------|-------|\n| 09:00 | 17 | **Update on the assessment of microorganisms** (new guidance / MOPS2 / fermentation products) |\n| 10:00 | 18 | **Update on guidance documents** (FAQs from EFSA to applicants) |\n| 11:00 | — | Coffee break |\n| 11:30 | 18.2 | **Update on the Guidance on target animal safety** |\n| 11:30 | 18.3 | **Update on the Guidance on characterisation** |\n| 11:50 | 19 | **Update on PARNUTS** |\n| 12:20 | 20 | Any other business |\n\n## Three Major Guidance Updates (Pet Food Relevance)\n\n### 1. Guidance on Safety for the Target Species (Major Revision)\n\nThe current Guidance on the Safety for the Target Species was originally issued in **2017**. FEEDAP Panel identified **five motives for revision**:\n\n1. **Enhancing considerations for tolerance trials** — experience gained over recent years\n2. **Extrapolation of safe levels from feed to water** — risk: No MoS (Margin of Safety) + variable water intake = exposure > safe for feed\n3. **Endpoints** — statistical analysis, Overdose/Margin of Safety\n4. **Expanding the list of additives for which safety may be presumed**\n5. **Use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)** — moving forward with the **3R approach** (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement of animal testing) — extrapolation of toxicological data from lab animals\n\nThis guidance update is **directly relevant to pet food additives** because target species safety assessments are required for all feed additives under Reg (EC) 1831/2003 Article 6 — including pet food additives (see companion topic `eu-reg-1831-2003/01_article_6_categories_and_functional_groups`).\n\n### 2. Guidance on the Assessment of Microorganisms (Major Revision)\n\nThe FEEDAP Panel's microorganism guidance is undergoing revision along three threads:\n\n- **MOPS2** (Qualified Presumption of Safety — second update)\n- **Fermentation products** — increasingly important for novel feed additives produced via precision fermentation\n- **New guidance on microorganisms** — comprehensive update\n\nThis is highly relevant to **probiotics / direct-fed microbials** in pet food (e.g., *Enterococcus faecium*, *Lactobacillus* spp., *Bacillus subtilis* — many of which appear in the OpenFoodTox 3.0 SUB inventory as `microorganism` composition entries, see companion topic `EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_substance_to_dossier_mapping`).\n\n### 3. PARNUTS Update\n\n**PARNUTS** = **PARticular NUTritional Substances** — a sub-category under EU feed law for feed with particular nutritional purposes (dietetic feeds, equivalent to \"prescription pet food\" in the US market). The 185th Plenary included a dedicated update on PARNUTS, indicating ongoing regulatory activity in this area (relevant to veterinary diet pet foods).\n\n## Related 2025 EFSA Activity\n\nBeyond the 185th Plenary, 2025 EFSA activity included:\n\n- **185th Plenary (2025-11-19/20)**: This meeting\n- **EFSA Strategy 2027**: \"Science, safe food, sustainability\" — released late 2025\n- **EFSA Programming Document 2026-2028**: Released December 2025; includes stock reduction plans for Food Additives and Feed areas\n- **FEEDAP stock (2026 outlook)**: 213 questions as of 2026, with \"Human resources increase + Process leaning + Outsourcing scheme + Guidance update + Speed of RA\" as the planned mitigation\n- **FEEDAP production**: ~130 questions/year, with 120/year incoming (production lagging slightly)\n\n## Source\n\n`pdf-raw/efsa-plenary/efsa-feedap-185th-plenary-2025-11-20.pdf` (EFSA official Open Session document, 9490872 bytes, downloaded 2026-07-21). Cross-confirmed against `https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-12/Open%20Session%20FEEDAP%20185%20Plenary%20meeting_for%20publication_0.pdf`.\n\nFor the underlying pet food additive regulations, see companion topics `eu-reg-1831-2003/01_article_6_categories_and_functional_groups`, `EFSA_FEEDAP_pet_food_additives_dossiers`, and `EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_*` (16 topics). For related 2024-2025 EFSA opinions and re-evaluations, see companion topic `EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_FEEDAP_chemistry_breakdown`.","sources":[],"tokens_estimated":980,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}