The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a scientific statement reaffirming its 2009 conclusion that “in relation to food safety, there is no indication that differences exist for meat and milk of clones and their progeny compared with those from conventionally bred animals.” The food safety watchdog’s assessment, however, pertains only to pigs and cattle because “there is still limited information available on cloning” of other species. The European Commission in May 2010 asked EFSA for an update on scientific developments regarding the safety of cloning farmed animals for food production. In response, EFSA’s Scientific Committee reviewed approximately 100 recent studies and other data from European research centers to determine that no new scientific information has surfaced to change its conclusions about cloned pigs and cattle. According to the statement, EFSA also reconfirmed its previous conclusion that “mortality rates and the number of animals born with developmental abnormalities are…
Category Archives European Food Safety Authority
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued an August 2, 2010, report urging member states to increase their monitoring of furan, a compound with aromatic properties that can form in a variety of heat-treated commercial foods and which has purportedly been shown to be carcinogenic in animal experiments. EFSA intends to use the report to support a dietary risk assessment on furan. It updates data submitted by 18 member states on furan levels in 4,186 foods sampled and analyzed between 2004 and 2009, with 8 percent of the samples reported as foods consumed. The report sorted data into 21 different food categories (five coffee and 16 noncoffee categories), with the highest levels of furan found in the five coffee categories compared to other food groups. The highest non-coffee maximum concentrations were found in the “baby food” and “soups” categories. “ Jarred baby food and infant formula are of particular…
Several environmental, health and women’s organizations have called on the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to consider “all relevant studies” on bisphenol A (BPA) as the safety watchdog prepares to present its opinion on the chemical next month. Signed by approximately 20 scientific experts and 40 non-governmental organizations, the June 23, 2010, letter states that “any objective and comprehensive review of the scientific literature will lead to the conclusion that action is necessary to reduce the levels of BPA exposure, particularly in groups at highest risk, namely young infants and pregnant mothers.” Drafted by Breast Cancer UK and University of Missouri-Columbia Biological Sciences Professor Frederick vom Saal, the letter claims that EFSA relied on a “few flawed studies” to declare BPA safe in prior risk assessments. “Many scientific studies are now calling into question the safety of BPA,” maintains the letter, which cites a body of recent research that includes bio-monitoring…
The European Union has reportedly allowed Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal located 500 kilometers from the African coast, to prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the archipelago. According to The New York Times, the European Commission “quietly” let the deadline pass for opposing the GMO ban, which Portuguese officials claimed was necessary to preserve Madeira’s rare subtropical laurel forests, known as laurisilva. “[T]he case of Madeira represents a significant landmark, because it is the first time the commission… has permitted a country to impose such a sweeping and definitive rejection of the technology,” states the May 9, 2010, article. In issuing its decision, the European Commission apparently circumvented the European Food Safety Authority and signaled “the unofficial beginning of a new—and potentially highly contentious—policy that would give European nations and regions far greater freedom to decide when to ban such crops.” This policy seeks to grease…
Danone has reportedly decided not to pursue its applications to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to approve beneficial health claims for two of its yogurt products, Actimel® and Activia®. According to a news source, the company took the action because of changes to European regulation of health claims. Previously, each member state’s regulatory authority decided whether these claims could be made; the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority, for example, prohibited an Actimel® TV advertisement in 2009, ruling that evidence did not support company claims that the product could help protect school-age children from illness. Going forward, EFSA will approve advertising health claims, but procedures and criteria to do so are apparently under development. Danone will participate in an EFSA consultation meeting scheduled for June 1, 2010. See BBC News, April 15, 2010.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published safety reassessments of three food additives, Brilliant Black (E 151), Brown HT (E 155) and Brown FK (E 154). For Brilliant Black, which first gained approval in 1984, EFSA has confirmed the existing acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 5 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight (mg/kg bw). According to the scientific panel, Brilliant Black is used in soft drinks, bakery products and desserts, but “only some children who regularly consume large amounts of foods containing the color might exceed this level of intake.” EFSA, however, has recommended decreasing by one-half the ADI for Brown HT, setting the new limit at 1.5 mg/kg bw after “adverse effects, such as slightly reduced weight gain, were noted in animals following long-term exposure” to the additive. The reviewers also expressed concern that “exposure to Brown HT could be above the new ADI for adults and children who…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources has assessed “the safety of steviol glycosides, sweeteners extracted from plant leaves, and established an Acceptable Daily Intake [ADI] for their safe use.” According to EFSA, toxicological testing showed that the substances, such as stevioside and rebaudioside, “are not genotoxic, nor carcinogenic, or linked to any adverse effects on the reproductive human system or for the developing child.” The panel has set an ADI for steviol glycosides of 4mg per kg body weight per day, a level “consistent” with the joint recommendation of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization. As the panel noted, however, “this ADI could be exceeded by both adults and children if these sweeteners are used at the maximum level proposed by the applicants” seeking authorization to market the sweetener. In light of this assessment, the European Commission must now…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published an action plan to address concerns over bisphenol A (BPA), which has purportedly “caused reproductive and developmental effects in animal studies and may also affect the endocrine system.” Intended to strengthen the agency’s chemical management program, the plan focuses on the plasticizer’s environmental impact and proposes (i) adding BPA to the chemical concern list; (ii) gathering information on BPA concentrations in surface, ground and drinking water; (iii) requiring manufacturers to provide EPA with test data related to long-term effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife; (iv) using EPA’s Design for the Environment program to reduce unnecessary exposures and find acceptable substitutes; and (v) continuing to evaluate “the potential disproportionate impact on children and other sub-populations through exposure from non-food packaging uses.” In addition, EPA has pledged to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal entities to…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published a second series of opinions on a list of “general function” health claims for foods. EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies assessed the scientific data submitted to substantiate more than 400 hundred health claims; its opinions are forwarded to the European Commission and member states, which ultimately decide whether to authorize the claims. Among other matters, the panel generally allowed adequately supported claims related to vitamins and minerals, but rejected “probiotic” and “antioxidant properties” claims for lack of information and evidence. EFSA apparently expects to complete its work by 2011, depending on the final number of claims received. See EFSA News Release, February 25, 2010.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has created a scientific cooperation (ESCO)working group “to collect and analyze information on the safety of substances” used in non-plastic food contact materials. Citing concern that certain substances, such as inks and adhesives, are migrating into foods, EFSA initiated the working group to “identify strengths and weaknesses in different approaches used for risk assessment, propose criteria for future safety evaluations and suggest further actions to be taken.” ESCO will present its findings to EFSA’s executive director by the end of March 2011. “Whilst EU rules specify that all materials coming into contact with foods must be safe, many non-plastic components of food contact materials—unlike plastic materials— are not subject to specific provisions at the European level,” states a February 22, 2010, EFSA press release.
