An updated edition of the risk communications guidelines “When Food Is Cooking Up a Storm – Proven Recipes for Risk Communications” is available on the EFSA website. The guidelines are a collaborative effort by the Advisory Forum Communications Working Group (AFCWG) – a network through which EFSA partners with the national food safety agencies.  A key aim of the AFCWG is to promote co-operation and coherence in risk communications, and the guidelines are an important tool in helping to achieve this goal.  

The first edition, published in 2012, was translated into 19 languages, ranging from Bulgarian to Mandarin. It responded to the need for practical guidance coupled with a desire to share experiences to strengthen risk communications. Due to the positive feedback on the usefulness of the risk guidelines, as well as the ever-changing landscape of communications, the AFCWG decided to regularly update the risk guidelines with fresh case studies and recommendations for best practices. This second edition includes additional case studies on lead exposure, Norwegian hunting, and dioxins in fatty fish from the Baltic.

The new edition is available in EFSA’s four working languages: English, French, German and Italian. If you are interested in translating the guidelines into another language, please contact AFwGCommssecretariat@efsa.europa.eu.