EFSA has created new and targeted approach to uncertainty communication that will help communicators to further boost the transparency of their scientific advice.
The guidance is a companion to the technical EFSA Scientific assessments from 2018. The Authority is gradually implementing these two new guidance documents for assessors and communicators.
EFSA’s guidance on uncertainty communication is an innovative and practical tool for communicators to provide uncertainty information and is based on social research and expertise.
Evidence of people’s understanding/awareness of uncertainty information and how they use it was extracted from published research. Several studies came to light.
Applying these findings to examples of EFSA scientific evaluations, the experts developed a body of practical instructions and advice for communicators to follow, generally and in specific context. This information is layered for different audiences (e.g. technical, informed, entry) who were grouped according to criteria such as their scientific literacy and familiarity with food safety issues.