FAO Brief on Environmental Inhibitors in Agrifood Systems: Navigating Food Safety Risk Assessments
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) | Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a strategic brief on Environmental Inhibitors (EIs), highlighting their role in reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture while emphasizing critical food safety considerations. EIs are chemical compounds used to lower non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane from ruminants, and to minimize nitrogen losses from soil. While these substances are essential for sustainable production, the lack of an internationally standardized classification has led to fragmented regulatory frameworks and varying data requirements for pre-market evaluations across different jurisdictions. The report calls for a harmonized approach to assess the potential transfer of EI residues into the food chain to protect human and animal health.
Key Categories of Environmental Inhibitors
Methanogenesis Inhibitors: Strategies aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock, requiring a deep understanding of their metabolic fate in animals and humans consuming animal products.
Nitrogen Inhibitors: Including nitrification and urease inhibitors, these compounds reduce nitrogen losses from soil but may enter the food chain through plant uptake or direct ingestion by livestock.
Proposed Global Approval Process
The FAO outlines a multi-step framework for the safety evaluation of EIs:
Initial Screening: Determination of the substance type and its primary regulated use (e.g., feed additive vs. fertilizer).
Efficacy Demonstration: Provision of scientific evidence showing a reduction in emissions or nitrogen loss.
Data Requirements: Collection of chemical properties, residue levels in crops/animal products, and toxicological data.
Comprehensive Risk Assessment: Evaluating the impact on plant safety, animal health, human health effects (PBPK studies), and environmental persistence in soil or waterways.
What is a ‘Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK)’ study and why is it used for EIs? A PBPK study is a mathematical modeling technique used to predict the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of synthetic or natural chemical substances in humans and other animal species. In the context of environmental inhibitors, these studies are critical for determining whether residues from substances like methanogenesis inhibitors are transferred to edible tissues at levels that could impact food safety. By modeling how these compounds move through an animal’s body, regulators can better estimate potential human exposure levels from consuming meat or dairy products, ensuring that any residual presence remains within safe limits.
Policy Relevance
The briefing serves as a technical compass for India to align its climate-smart agricultural ambitions with rigorous food safety oversight.
Strategic Impact for India:
Regulating Climate-Smart Tech: As the world’s third-largest methane emitter, India lacks a dedicated policy for agricultural methane; this brief provides a template for FSSAI to create pre-market approval standards for new additives like seaweed supplements or probiotics.
Enhancing Nitrogen Efficiency: The focus on nitrogen inhibitors supports the PM-PRANAM scheme and Neem Coated Urea initiatives by providing a risk-assessment framework to prevent chemical leaching into rural waterways.
Protecting the Dairy Export Pipeline: For initiatives like Amul’s climate-smart farming, adopting these global risk-assessment standards ensures that Indian dairy exports meet international Codex benchmarks for residue-free products.
DPI for Food Safety: India can leverage its Account Aggregator framework to track the use of these inhibitors at the farm level, creating a “digital footprint” for food safety that enhances consumer trust in domestic markets.
Follow the full update here: ENVIRONMENTAL INHIBITORS IN AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS CONSIDERATIONS FOR FOOD SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT