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EFSA OpenFoodTox 3.0 substance-to-dossier mapping — 5620 of 7880 substances have dossiers, 2260 are orphans, 1-to-1 strict join

EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_substance_to_dossier_mapping

efsa 540 tok en 2026-07-20

The DOSSIER_DOCS sheet in EFSA OpenFoodTox 3.0 (Zenodo record 19388272, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19388272) is the relationship table linking dossiers to their constituent documents (substance records, endpoint study records, endpoint summaries, flexible summaries, flexible records). 106409 rows × 5 cols (DOSSIER UUID, DOCUMENT TYPE, DOCUMENT SUBTYPE, DOCUMENT UUID).

Document type distribution

Document TypeCountShare
ENDPOINT_STUDY_RECORD5055647.5%
ENDPOINT_SUMMARY2367022.2%
FLEXIBLE_SUMMARY2046819.2%
SUBSTANCE1161310.9%
FLEXIBLE_RECORD1010.1%
Total document links106409100%

SUBSTANCE linkage key statistics

StatisticCount
Unique substances in SUB sheet7880
Substances linked to a dossier (via DOSSIER_DOCS type=SUBSTANCE)5620
Orphan substances (in SUB sheet, not linked to any dossier)2260
Link rate (substances with dossiers)71.3%
Unique dossiers11613
Substance-to-dossier cardinality1-to-1 strict

Key finding: Each substance is associated with exactly one dossier (1-to-1 strict join). No substance has multiple dossiers; no dossier has multiple substances. This simplifies substance-level queries: a substance's full dossier metadata can be retrieved with a single join.

The 2260 orphan substances (28.7%) are chemical entities registered in the SUB sheet but not yet linked to a completed assessment dossier. These are typically:

  • Pre-registration entries: substances filed for future EFSA review
  • Reference substances only: used as analytical comparators in

other dossiers (CAS-number, InChIKey, SMILES) but not directly assessed

  • Incomplete legacy entries: substances carried over from OFT 2.0

where the dossier was retired or split

Orphan substance composition distribution

CompositionOrphan count
(no composition recorded)2134
multi-constituent substance74
mono-constituent substance26
microorganism or toxin produced by a microorganism25
polymer1

2134 of 2260 orphans (94.4%) carry no composition type. Most orphans are "reference-only" entries with a CAS number or InChIKey but not yet characterized into the IUCLID composition taxonomy.

Orphan substance origin distribution

OriginOrphan count
organic1858
(no origin recorded)241
inorganic110
other:26
organometallic25

1858 orphans are organic (82.2% of orphans) — consistent with the overall dataset's 78.5% organic share, suggesting the orphans are not biased by chemistry type.

Full Composition × Origin cross-tab (7880 substances)

CompositionOriginCountShare
mono-constituent substanceorganic383548.7%
(no composition)organic197325.0%
multi-constituent substance(no origin)6137.8%
(no composition)(no origin)3134.0%
multi-constituent substanceorganic2773.5%
mono-constituent substance(no origin)1902.4%
mono-constituent substanceinorganic1582.0%
microorganism or toxin(no origin)1241.6%
(no composition)inorganic1031.3%
polymerorganic891.1%
mono-constituent substanceorganometallic530.7%
multi-constituent substanceother:410.5%
(no composition)organometallic270.3%
(no composition)other:220.3%
multi-constituent substanceinorganic150.2%

Headline categories:

  • mono-constituent × organic (3835, 48.7%): standard single-

molecule organic substances — vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, pesticide actives, pharmaceutical residues, feed additives

  • (no composition) × organic (1973, 25.0%): organic substances

with no IUCLID composition assignment — often UVCB (Unknown or Variable composition, Complex reaction products or Biological materials) or natural extracts

  • multi-constituent (956, 12.1%): formulations, botanical

extracts, mixtures — distributed across organic, inorganic, and undefined origins

Pet food relevance

Substance-to-dossier mapping enables several pet food analyses:

  1. Substance-centric queries: For any given substance

(e.g. "carrageenan"), query its dossier once, get full metadata (ExpertGroup, DateOfEvaluation, Regulation, ToxicologicalReferences) in a single join.

  1. Polymer + multi-constituent (1045 substances): This is the

pet-food-formulation-relevant subset — gelling agents (carrageenan, agar, alginate), emulsifiers, stabilizers, palatants, and mixed feed additives. The dossier-level data can be used to identify which polymers/mixtures have explicit pet-food safety assessments.

  1. Orphan substances (2260): Useful as a watchlist for

future EFSA assessments. Pet food manufacturers tracking regulatory pipelines can monitor when orphan substances gain dossier associations.

Source: toxicology/efsa/OFT3.0_export_repository.xlsx, sheet DOSSIER_DOCS (106409 rows × 5 cols), joined to SUB (7880 rows × 11 cols) via Document UUID.

Sources

  • OFT3.0_export_repository.xlsx