3. How traditional toxicological methods address the questions raised

3.1 A brief historical overview

Toxicology is a long-established discipline, but its application to the food industry is more recent. However, concerns about food safety date back more than a century, both in France and in the United States. In France, it was the law of August 1, 1905 (which already aimed to protect public health by ensuring the prevention and punishment of food fraud) that led to the gradual implementation of regulations based on a scientific approach to risk assessment. In the United States, it was around the same time, in 1906, that the first consumer protection measures were enacted: the “Pure Food and Drug Act” and the “Meat Inspection Act.”

It was really in 1955 that discussions on risk assessment methodology in the food sector...