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consommation alimentaire de réglisse
12/06/2025 —
Expert assessment

Think twice before consuming large amounts of liquorice to avoid the risk of hypertension

Liquorice is used as an ingredient in certain food supplements and as a flavouring in beverages and foods. Following numerous reports of adverse effects, some of them severe, ANSES assessed the risks associated with the consumption of products containing liquorice. Its expert appraisal shows that repeated high consumption of beverages and foods containing liquorice can lead to hypokalaemia (a drop in blood potassium levels) and high blood pressure, thereby increasing cardiovascular risk. Some people are particularly sensitive: pregnant or breastfeeding women, children, people with cardiovascular problems (such as hypertension), or kidney or liver problems. ANSES recommends that food labels indicate the presence of liquorice or its main active ingredient, glycyrrhizinic acid, even in small quantities.
Une méthode innovante pour mieux mesurer l'exposition alimentaire à l'arsenic
23/05/2025 —
Research

An innovative method to more accurately measure dietary exposure to arsenic

Some forms of arsenic are toxic and even carcinogenic. ANSES’s Laboratory for Food Safety has developed an innovative method that will enable their concentration in different foods to be more accurately measured. This breakthrough will enhance the assessment of consumer exposure and health risks.
Grippe du porc : comment un nouveau virus a pris le dessus sur les autres lignées en France
07/05/2025 —
Research

Swine flu: how a new virus has taken over other genotypes in France

In 2020, a new genotype of swine influenza virus, responsible for swine flu, emerged in France and quickly replaced certain previous strains. Scientists at ANSES’s Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort Laboratory conducted a study to understand how this rapid change could have occurred. The emergence of a new genotype poses a risk to the health of pigs and humans alike.
Antiparasitaires : utilisez un produit adapté à votre animal de compagnie
02/05/2025 —
Daily life

Use the right antiparasitic product for your pet

The use of external antiparasitics is a good way to protect pets from ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. However, using a product that is not intended for the animal being treated can cause serious, sometimes fatal, effects. Every year, dozens of cats and rabbits suffer adverse effects from the use of antiparasitic products intended for another species.
Bouteilles de protoxyde d'azote
16/04/2025 —
Daily life

Cases of nitrous oxide poisoning still on the rise

Since 2020, reports of poisoning related to the misuse of nitrous oxide, or ‘laughing gas’, have been steadily increasing. This gas can lead to dependence and to severe, sometimes irreversible complications affecting the nervous and cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) systems if taken repeatedly and/or in large quantities. Nitrous oxide is mainly consumed by teenagers and young adults: according to data from a Santé publique France survey, in 2022, 14% of 18-24-year olds had already tried it and more than 3% reported having consumed it within the last year. Not all of these young users are aware that it can be dangerous. In response to this public health issue, the ANSM, ANSES and Santé publique France are reiterating the measures that should be taken to prevent and manage the risks associated with nitrous oxide consumption.
Fièvre aphteuse : un pas de plus vers la compréhension de la persistance du virus chez les ruminants
28/04/2025 —
News

Foot-and-mouth disease: a step closer to understanding the persistence of the virus in ruminants

Foot-and-mouth disease is one of the most contagious viral animal diseases. It affects more than 70 domestic and wild species, in particular cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Disease-free countries are not exempt, as has been shown by recent cases since January 2025 in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. The disease has a major socio-economic impact on livestock sectors, both in areas where it is endemic and in the event of an incursion into a previously disease-free area. For more than 50 years, a complex question has been asked: in areas where the virus circulates, why is it able to persist in up to 50% of infected ruminants after their apparent recovery? ANSES's Laboratory for Animal Health sought to answer this question through FMDV_PersIstOmics, an international research project. This project revealed that one of the virus's proteins plays a key role in this persistence.
Analyse des résultats de l’expertise collective de l’Inserm sur les effets des pesticides sur la santé
24/04/2025 —
Expert assessment

Analysis of the results of Inserm’s collective expert review on the health effects of pesticides

The adverse effects of plant protection products must be monitored and taken into account so that their uses and marketing authorisations can be adjusted where necessary. Through its phytopharmacovigilance scheme, ANSES analysed the results of a major scientific study: Inserm’s collective expert review on the links between pesticide exposure and human health, updated in 2021. Following this analysis, the Agency identified several health signals, including a strong signal concerning pyrethroids, which are used in plant protection products as well as in biocides and veterinary medicinal products. ANSES reiterates the importance of regularly reviewing the assessments of substances and products in light of new data.
18/04/2025 —
Inside ANSES

Our 2025 work programme

ANSES's work programme, which is updated each year, enables it to pursue and develop its activities in order to keep abreast of health risks and new scientific possibilities. The publication for the 2025 programme sheds light on the actions planned for this year, in support of public action and all the initiatives designed to safeguard human, animal, plant and environmental health.
La température des réfrigérateurs des Européens étudiée pour mieux protéger les consommateurs
18/04/2025 —
Research

Domestic fridge temperatures studied in Europe to better protect consumers

Scientists at ANSES’s Laboratory for Food Safety have reviewed the reference temperature used to calculate the use-by dates of ready-to-eat refrigerated foods. This temperature takes account of those actually observed in domestic refrigerators in 16 European countries. It was defined to prevent foodborne infections caused by pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes .

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