EFSA Publishes Guidance on Expert Knowledge Elicitation

The European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) recently has established guidance on expert knowledge elicitation in food safety assessment.

 

Quantitative risk models should be informed by systematically reviewed scientific evidence, however, in practice empirical evidence is often limited. In such cases it is necessary to turn to expert judgment, However, unaided expert judgment is often biased, thus limiting its value. Accordingly, EFSA has developed methods for eliciting knowledge from experts in as unbiased a manner as possible. 

 

The resulting guidance begins with defining the risk assessment problem, moving through preparation for elicitation (e.g. selecting the most suitable experts and the method to be used) and the elicitation itself, culminating in documentation. Those responsible for managing each of these phases are identified.