Update of the list of QPS-recommended biological agents intentionally added to food or feed as notified to EFSA 4: suitability of taxonomic units notified to EFSA until March 2016

EFSA was requested to assess the safety of a broad range of biological agents in the context of notifications for market authorisation as sources of food and feed additives, enzymes and plant protection products. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) assessment was developed to provide a harmonised generic preassessment to support safety risk assessments performed by EFSA's scientific Panels. The safety of unambiguously defined biological agents (at the highest taxonomic unit appropriate for the purpose for which an application is intended) and the completeness of the body of knowledge were assessed. Safety concerns identified fora taxonomic unit are, where possible and reasonable in number, reflected as 'qualifications' in connection with a recommendation for a QPS status. A total of 129 biological agents were notified to EFSA between September 2015 and March 2016. From these, 34 biological agents already had a QPS status and did not require further evaluation, and 63 were not included as they are filamentous fungi or enterococci, biological groups which have been excluded from the QPS activities since 2014. Five notifications for species belonging to Streptomyces genus, one for Paenibacillus lentus, four for Escherichia coli and one for one species of Actinomadura were not evaluated for QPS status because these species were recently assessed and considered not suitable for QPS status. Furthermore, it was agreed not to include nine notifications from Pesticides Unit as the respective dossiers (including the literature review) were not yet received. Therefore, there were 12 notifications related to 12 taxonomic units that were evaluated for QPS status. Pediococcus parvulus, Bacillus flexus and Lactobacillus diolivorans may be recommended for the QPS status. Candida rugosa, Cellulosimicrobium cellulans, Geobacillus caldoproteolyticus (Anoxybacillus caldiproteolyticus), Aeribacillus pallidus (ex-Geobacillus pallidus), 'Chryseobacterium proteolyticum; Klebsiella pneumoniae, Paenibacillus macerans, 'Protaminobacter rubrum' and Pullulanibacillus naganoensis are not recommended for the QPS list. (C) 2016 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority.