Glossary

Food policy uses legal, scientific and farming terms that can look similar while naming different questions. These definitions provide a starting point; the linked topic pages supply the regulatory context, attributed findings and limits of the relevant evidence.

FDA’s biotechnology overview explains shared federal responsibilities. WHO’s antimicrobial-resistance fact sheet defines a biological response to antimicrobial medicines. EPA’s pesticide-residue explanation describes a legal enforcement threshold. NIDDK’s digestion guide follows food breakdown and nutrient absorption. Their different purposes help explain why a legal category, a farming trait and a biological process need distinct definitions.

The evidence guide explains how assessment terms fit together. The reading list groups source material by subject, while the site index describes the topic pages.

Acceptable daily intake

A benchmark used in international pesticide assessment to evaluate intake over a lifetime. WHO describes its role in setting the residue limits for food.

Amino acid

A constituent unit of a peptide or protein chain. The digestive-biology page explains amino acids among the products of dietary protein breakdown.

Antimicrobial resistance

WHO uses this term when microbes no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. The food-animal antibiotics page distinguishes resistance from the purpose for which an antimicrobial is used.

Aquaculture

Cultivation of aquatic organisms under controlled or partly natural conditions, rather than harvesting wild populations. The fish-farming page distinguishes freshwater and marine systems.

Bioavailability

A concept concerning the proportion of a substance that is absorbed and becomes available for use or storage in the body. The digestion page distinguishes absorption from the presence of a substance in food.

Bioengineered food

The USDA disclosure category for food containing detectable genetic material changed through specified laboratory techniques that conventional breeding or nature could not produce. The labeling page explains the standard and its disclosure methods.

Biosolids

EPA uses this name for treated sewage sludge that meets its specified requirements and is intended for land application as a soil conditioner or fertilizer. The biosolids page explains that regulatory meaning.

Bt

An abbreviation for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium found in soil. The engineered-crops page explains traits based on its pesticidal proteins.

Carbon dioxide equivalent

A common accounting unit that expresses different greenhouse gases using their global warming potential relative to carbon dioxide. The climate page explains why accounting methods and boundaries matter.

Citizen petition

A formal procedure for requesting FDA administrative action. The federal-rules page distinguishes a petition from comments on a proposed rule.

Cloning

In the livestock method discussed here, an embryo is formed using a donor cell or its nucleus and an egg whose nucleus has been removed. The cloned-animals page distinguishes this process from sexual reproduction.

Codex

Short for Codex Alimentarius, a collection of international food standards, practice codes and recommendations associated with FAO and WHO. The regulators page explains its role alongside national law.

Coordinated Framework

The U.S. policy framework describing how FDA, EPA and USDA share biotechnology oversight. The engineered-food overview places their different responsibilities within that framework.

Critical control point

A production step where a control can prevent, remove or limit an identified food hazard within the HACCP system. The prevention page places this term within hazard-based process control.

DNA

The genetic material described in FDA’s explanation of engineered organisms. The genetic-engineering page explains changes to that material within food biotechnology.

Dose-response

The relationship between the amount of an exposure and the size of a measured response under specified conditions. The evidence guide explains why dose belongs in a risk assessment.

EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority, an EU agency providing scientific advice and communication about food-chain risks. The evidence guide distinguishes scientific advice from regulatory decision-making.

Exposure

Contact with, or intake of, an agent being assessed. The risk-evidence page explains why assessing the amount received differs from simply identifying a substance.

FDA

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates most human and animal food in the federal framework described by its biotechnology overview. The agencies page places that role alongside USDA and EPA responsibilities.

Food additive

In FDA’s legal explanation, a substance intentionally added to food, unless its use falls within GRAS or another statutory exception. The additives page explains why intended use matters to this category.

Foodborne illness

Illness associated with consuming food or drink contaminated with pathogens, chemicals or toxins, as FDA describes it. The foodborne-illness page reports agency information and general handling guidance.

FSMA

The Food Safety Modernization Act, which FDA describes as shifting its food-safety focus toward prevention. The FSMA page explains the law’s prevention and oversight framework.

Genetic engineering

A process that changes an organism’s genetic material; FDA uses it to explain the common term GMO. The engineered-food overview distinguishes the process from its regulatory reviews.

GRAS

The abbreviation for generally recognized as safe, a legal category involving expert recognition under the conditions of an intended food use. The food-additives page distinguishes the category from food-additive approval.

HACCP

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, a system for identifying production hazards and establishing process controls. The prevention page explains this approach alongside food-facility preventive controls.

Hatchery

A facility where fish or shellfish are spawned, hatched and reared during their early development. The fish-farming page explains the hatchery’s role in supplying farms.

Hazard

A situation, event or agent considered capable of causing harm in an assessment. The evidence guide separates identifying a hazard from estimating the likelihood of harm under particular exposure conditions.

Herbicide tolerance

A crop trait permitting resistance to a particular herbicide treatment. The crop-traits page distinguishes herbicide tolerance from insect resistance and discusses the associated field questions.

IGF-1

A protein growth factor produced mainly by the liver, with production stimulated by growth hormone in the reference account. The hormones and digestion page places this body substance within the growth-hormone system.

Injunction

A court order restricting an activity. The court-cases page explains the injunction against planting discussed in the engineered-alfalfa case.

Insect resistance

A crop trait directed at insect pests; FDA’s Bt example involves introducing a gene associated with that trait. The engineered-crops page separates this purpose from herbicide tolerance.

Irradiation

The application of ionizing radiation to food. The irradiation page describes the process, FDA oversight and labeling requirements.

Life-cycle assessment

An approach that includes connected production activities rather than only a single direct emission source. The climate page reports debate over comparing comprehensive livestock accounting with vehicle-tailpipe emissions.

Mariculture

Aquaculture in seawater habitats and lagoons, rather than freshwater. The aquaculture page places marine farming alongside other water-based production systems.

Maximum residue limit

An international limit for pesticide residue in food, established using assessment benchmarks including acceptable daily intake. The pesticide-residues page distinguishes this international term from a U.S. tolerance.

Methane

A greenhouse gas discussed in the agricultural reference in connection with ruminant digestion and manure. The food-and-climate page distinguishes those production processes.

Net pen

A sea cage formed from mesh supported by a frame, used in fish farming. The aquaculture page distinguishes net-pen farming from other production systems.

Nitrous oxide

A greenhouse gas discussed in relation to soil bacteria converting nitrate and to manure. The farming-and-climate page explains these processes as the agricultural reference describes them.

Norovirus

A virus WHO identifies as a common cause of foodborne infections. The illness page places it alongside other biological food hazards.

Notice and comment

A rulemaking procedure involving notice of a proposed rule and an opportunity for interested people to provide data, views or arguments. The rulemaking page explains the agency’s consideration of that material.

Organic certification

Verification by an accredited certifying organization that a farm or business meets national organic standards. The organic page distinguishes certification from research comparing food composition.

Patent exhaustion

A patent-law doctrine concerning the rights that end after an authorized sale of a patented item. The court-cases page explains the distinction between selling an item and reproducing patented seed.

Pathogen

A disease-causing organism; FDA discusses foodborne organisms in its consumer information. The foodborne-illness page distinguishes biological agents from chemical contamination.

Pepsin

A stomach enzyme that the reference account describes as breaking proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids. The digestion page places it within protein breakdown.

PepT1

An intestinal transporter involved in taking up small peptides into the cells lining the intestine. The peptide-digestion page explains its role without treating it as evidence that larger peptides cross unchanged.

Peptide

A short chain of amino acids joined by peptide bonds. The digestion page explains how dietary proteins and their smaller peptide fragments are discussed in digestive biology.

Pesticide

A substance used to control pests; EPA’s food account includes insects, weeds, rodents and some microorganisms among those targets. The pesticides page explains registration, residues and assessment.

PFAS

A group of chemicals EPA describes as persistent because their components break down slowly. The biosolids and PFAS page separates the chemicals’ presence from the agency’s assessment questions.

Plant-incorporated protectant

EPA’s term for a pesticidal substance produced by a plant together with the genetic material needed to produce it. The crop-traits page explains its use in regulating pesticidal traits.

Precautionary principle

An approach to decisions about potentially harmful innovations when scientific knowledge is incomplete. The evidence guide reports the principle and the objections described in reference sources.

Preventive control

A step a food facility takes to prevent or substantially limit the likelihood of a problem within a prevention framework. The FSMA page explains controls and their verification.

Prion

A misfolded protein discussed as the infectious agent in the source account of BSE. The BSE page explains that disease and the feed restrictions associated with it.

Protein

A larger amino-acid chain, distinguished from shorter peptides in the reference account. The digestion page follows dietary proteins through breakdown into smaller components.

Radura

The international symbol indicating that a food has undergone irradiation. The irradiation page places the symbol within food-labeling requirements.

rbST

Recombinant bovine somatotropin, the name FDA uses for bovine somatotropin produced through biotechnology. The dairy-cow page explains the regulatory and milk-label questions concerning this protein hormone.

Risk

The nature and likelihood of harm under the conditions being assessed. The evidence guide distinguishes that question from identifying whether a hazard exists.

Risk assessment

An evaluation of the nature and likelihood of potential harm that makes its assumptions and uncertainty explicit. The evidence guide follows hazard identification, dose, exposure and characterization.

Rulemaking

An agency process for developing rules; the notice-and-comment statute describes a proposal, public input and a statement explaining adopted rules. The rules page distinguishes this process from a citizen petition.

Salmonella

A genus of bacteria addressed in WHO’s foodborne-infection account. The foodborne-illness page explains its place among the organisms discussed by food agencies.

Small intestine

The digestive-tract region where NIDDK describes most food-nutrient absorption taking place. The digestion page explains its role after the stomach and during protein breakdown.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer

A laboratory method combining a nucleus from a body cell with an egg whose nucleus has been removed to form an embryo. The cloning page explains this livestock-cloning method.

Somatotropin

A protein hormone that FDA describes as produced in the pituitary gland of animals, including people. The body-science page explains growth hormone as a substance in mammals.

Substantial equivalence

An initial food-assessment comparison that identifies differences between a new food and a conventional counterpart for further evaluation. The engineered-food overview explains the concept and the concerns described about it.

Tolerance

EPA’s maximum legal pesticide-residue level for a treated food, used as an enforcement threshold. The residues page explains how that legal limit fits into regulation and monitoring.