ABSTRACT
Toxicology contributes the essential scientific foundation for the ultimate public health policy judgment concerning what constitutes "safety" in a particular case. Toxicology performs this role best when it gives the decisionmaker the most complete picture possible of the potential human health effects of the substance in question. The contribution of toxicology is constrained by gaps in our understanding of how carcinogenic effects seen at high doses in animal studies relate to the probability of adverse effects in humans at much lower doses. The following recommendations of the Toxicology Committee are based on the Committee's 1984 recommendations, but go beyond them. This need was clearly recognized in the 1984 recommendations of the Toxicology Committee, which centered on improving risk assessment and enhancing its role in food safety decisionmaking. The Committee is pleased that significant progress has been made in these areas since 1984.
