📖 Glossary
Plain-language explanations of the EU agencies, alert types, and safety concepts you'll see across our notices.
RASFF
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
The EU's shared early-warning system for unsafe food and animal feed. 27 national agencies + Norway/Switzerland push notifications into a single feed managed by DG SANTE.
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Safety Gate
EU Safety Gate (formerly RAPEX)
The EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food consumer products — toys, cosmetics, electronics, vehicles, clothing. Rebranded from "RAPEX" in 2019.
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EMA
European Medicines Agency
The EU regulator for centrally-authorised medicines. Publishes shortage notifications, DHPC safety letters, and the master catalogue of all centrally-approved products.
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DHPC
Direct Healthcare Professional Communication
A safety letter sent by a medicine's manufacturer to doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals when an important new safety issue is identified.
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BASG
Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (Austria)
Austria's federal office for safety in healthcare. Publishes Austria-specific medicine shortage notifications and an XML feed of currently-affected pack sizes.
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Rappel Conso
Rappel Conso (DGCCRF, France)
France's official consumer-recall portal, combining alerts from DGCCRF (consumer goods), DGAL (food), DGEC (energy/climate), and DGPR (risk prevention) into a single public feed.
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EudraVigilance
EU pharmacovigilance database
The EU's database of suspected side-effect reports for human medicines. Hundreds of thousands of reports per year — used by regulators to spot emerging safety signals.
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Serious risk
Serious risk (in EU safety alerts)
The highest severity category in EU recall systems. Indicates that the product or medicine can cause significant harm to consumers if used.
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Parallel export ban
Parallel export ban
A restriction on re-exporting medicines from one EU country to another. Used to protect supply in the source country when a shortage is detected.
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Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes (bacterial contamination)
A bacterium that causes listeriosis, a serious foodborne infection particularly dangerous for pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, and immunocompromised people.
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Salmonella
Salmonella (bacterial contamination)
A family of bacteria that cause salmonellosis — diarrhoea, fever, abdominal cramps. The most-reported food pathogen in EU RASFF notifications.
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Recall vs withdrawal
Recall vs withdrawal — what's the difference?
Recall = product has already reached consumers and must be returned. Withdrawal = product is pulled from the supply chain BEFORE it reaches consumers.
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Medicine shortage
Medicine shortage — what it means and what to do
When supply of a medicine drops below normal demand. Officially declared when the marketing authorisation holder cannot meet projected demand at the country or EU level.
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