Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment

The Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COM) assesses and advises on mutagenic risks to humans and meets three times a year. A mutagenic risk is the risk of a substance causing genetic mutations. COM’s advice covers natural products, synthetic chemicals in food, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals found in the environment. Its advice helps protect the public. It was established in its present form in 1978. Its secretariat is provided jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care and the Food Standards Agency (see above). It has no regulatory status of its own, but it advises agencies that have a regulatory role.