Dutch social and political science professors have presented a case study on marketing a functional food in the European Union (EU) to demonstrate that nontextual marketing, which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is apparently ill-equipped to regulate, plays a larger role in consumer purchasing decisions than textual product messages. Herman Lelieveldt and Cris Boonen, “EU Health Claims Regulation and the Marketing of Functional Foods: A Regulatory Void?,” 3 European Journal of Risk Regulation 577 (2012). They considered a marketing campaign for Optimel Control®, a yogurt drink first launched in the Netherlands in 2007 with great success but later withdrawn after expansion to other countries due to insufficient sales volume. It contained an ingredient that EFSA ruled in 2011 was not effective to control or manage weight. According to the study, the textual health claims constituted “a relatively small element in conveying the ‘stay in control’ message of Optimel Control.” Those claims,…
Category Archives European Food Safety Authority
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on its “first full risk assessment” of the artificial sweetener aspartame. According to a January 8, 2013, news release, EFSA’s Scientific Panel on Food Additive and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS Panel) has issued a draft scientific opinion on the safety of aspartame that entailed “an in-depth review of peer-reviewed scientific and other literature on aspartame and its breakdown products, including new human studies.” Based on this information, the ANS Panel has concluded that aspartame and its breakdown products “pose no toxicity concern for consumers at current levels of exposure. The current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) is considered to be safe for the general population and consumer exposure to aspartame is below this ADI.” “The ANS Panel’s draft opinion has benefitted from the latest scientific thinking and methodological approaches,” concludes EFSA, which has requested comments on the draft…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an inventory of its activities on bees and bee health as part of a forthcoming report to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Spurred by a worldwide decline in the bee population, the agency created a task force with expertise in pesticides, animal health and welfare, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and plant health “to provide risk managers with comprehensive advice in the area of bee health.” In compiling the inventory, the task force identified 355 bee-related scientific outputs that EFSA has already published or developed, with the majority of these outputs involving applications for regulatory products such as pesticides and GMOs. “With its mandate to improve EU food safety and to ensure a high level of consumer protection, EFSA has a responsibility to protect bees and the ecosystem services they provide to humans,” stated the agency in a November 20,…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a Science Strategy 2012-2016 outlining the agency’s plans to protect the food supply chain “in the coming years through up-to-date, science-based risk assessments.” Intended to complement EFSA’s corporate Strategic Plan 2009-2013, the new strategy reflects internal deliberations among its Scientific Committee, Advisory Forum, Management Board and staff, and various stakeholders. The document focuses on four objectives designed to (i) “further develop [the] excellence of EFSA’s scientific advice”; (ii) “optimize the use of risk assessment capacity in the EU”; (iii) “develop and harmonize methodologies and approaches to assess risks associated with the food chain”; and (iv) “strengthen the scientific basis for risk assessment and risk monitoring.” To achieve these goals, the strategy proposes several key initiatives, including a bid to “enhance the contribution of EFSA staff to support the scientific work of the EFSA Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels.” EFSA has also recommended…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently held a one-day meeting with scientific experts, member states and other Advisory Forum participants “to exchange each other’s previous or ongoing work related to the safety assessment of bisphenol A (BPA).” Part of the agency’s continuing BPA evaluation, the meeting covered previous risk appraisals and outlined EFSA’s “developing approach” to the next opinion scheduled for completion in May 2013. It also featured members of other EFSA committees who discussed BPA safety assessments undertaken for medical devices and industrial chemicals, as well as experts from individual countries who described their work in the following areas: (i) “human exposure to BPA”; (ii) “current levels of BPA in food and other sources”; (iii) “analytical methods”; (iv) “non dietary sources of exposure to BPA”; and (v) “recent studies on the toxicity of BPA, including those related to reported low dose effects of BPA.” According to EFSA, the…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Dietary and Chemical Monitoring Unit has issued an updated report finding little change in the amount of acrylamide produced during food processing since the last data set was released in 2008. Covering 2007-2010, the report used approximately 13,000 data points to monitor the substance, which “typically forms in starchy food products such as potato crisps, French fries, bread, biscuits and coffee, during high-temperature processing, including frying, baking and roasting.” Although EFSA apparently received less input from member states in 2010 than in previous years, it did not find “any considerable change” in acrylamide levels between 2007 and 2010 “for the majority of the food categories assessed.” “In terms of the results, there were downward trends in acrylamide levels in the category ‘processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children’ and the sub-categories ‘non-potato based savory snacks’ and ‘biscuits and rusks for infants and young…
The European Court of Auditors has issued a special report finding that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and three other consumer health and safety agencies did not have “adequate” conflict-of-interest procedures in place as of October 2011. After auditing agency activities and comparing them with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines, the court evidently concluded that certain conflict-of-interest risks “are embedded in the selected Agencies’ structure (e.g. the same organization is both a management representative and a supplier of services) and in the use of the research performed by the industry.” In particular, the report faulted EFSA’s Management Board where four of the 15 members “have a background (including current involvement) in organizations representing consumers and other interests in the food industry.” It also noted that “the impartiality of EFSA’s work and decision-making might be jeopardized since three of these organizations represented on the Management Board are also represented in the…
The European Commission has published its list of flavoring substances authorized for use in foods. Effective October 22, 2012, Regulation EU 872/2012 provides a roster of more than 2,500 substances evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and deemed safe for human food uses, while Regulation EU 873/2012 establishes transitional measures for other flavorings, such as those made from non-food sources, that are still under review. Flavoring substances not found on the list “will be banned after an 18-months phasing-out period.” To prepare the new regulations, EFSA’s Scientific Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavorings and Processing Aids (the CEF Panel) initially considered approximately 2,800 substances already on the EU market as well as 197 additions. Although the majority of substances reportedly did not present safety concerns, the CEF Panel recommended removing seven substances from commerce and asked for further data on 400 others. Industry can submit data on…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on new “draft Guidance on the Risk Assessment of Plant Protection Products [PPPs] on Bees (including Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees).” Intended to help applicants and authorities evaluate PPPs “and their active substances under Regulation (EC) 1107/2009,” the draft guidance outlines a process “by which [PPPs] can be evaluated for their potential risk in causing unacceptable harm to a group of non-target organisms (bees).” To these ends, EFSA has identified a maximum level of harm as defined by Specific Protection Goals (SPGs), which aim to protect the survival and development of bee colonies, preserve biomass and reproduction to ensure long-term survival, and minimize the effect of PPPs on larvae and bee behavior. Recognizing that the viability of a colony depends on the number of bees it contains, the SPGs establish that the magnitude of PPPs’ effects on…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) has issued two guidance documents establishing “the scientific requirements for the substantiation of health claims related to functions of the nervous system, including psychological functions, and those related to physical performance.” In particular, the new guidance documents address “which claimed effects are considered to be beneficial physiological effects, and which studies/outcome measures are appropriate for the substantiation of function claims and disease risk reduction claims.” They are the final installments in a series of documents covering health claims related to gut and immune function; antioxidants and cardiovascular health; weight management; and bone, joint and oral health. According to EFSA, the NDA Panel has also finished its further assessment of general function health claims, approving two additional claims that member states substantiated with supplemental data: (i) prunes and normal bowel function, and (ii) alpha-cyclodextrin and a…
