The meeting, in Parma, Italy, is the third gathering of the stakeholder consultative platform set up by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA). It is part of the agency's drive to consult with interested parties in the process of making the EU's food supply safer.

Representatives will discuss EFSA's work on transparency in risk assessment, including issues related to stakeholder involvement, and the identification, characterisation and monitoring of emerging risks.

This will be the first time representatives meet with Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle in her capacity as EFSA's new executive director. The consultative body was set up in 2005.

Participants include EU-level organisations working in areas related to the food chain, including the International Life Sciences Institute, the European Consumers' Organisation, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries in the EU (CIAA), EuroCommerce, the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions, and Greenpeace.

The chair of the consultative body is Sue Davies, chief policy adviser at the UK consumer association Which?. The UK association is a member of BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation.