The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued its opinion that the Immunofortis® in Danone Baby Nutrition’s infant formula does not, as the company claims, “naturally strengthen the baby’s immune system.” According to EFSA, the scientific evidence the company submitted (i) “had considerable limitations,” (ii) “was inconsistent,” and (iii) “was not convincing.” It concluded that the evidence was “insufficient to establish a cause and effect relationship between the consumption of Immunofortis® and the initiation of appropriate immune responses including the defence against pathogens.” The company apparently sought the opinion of the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies as to its claim and provided 25 human study references and five non-human studies. See EFSA Journal 2010.
Category Archives European Food Safety Authority
The European Commission (EC) has reportedly entered the second phase of a crackdown on functional food health claims advertising a product’s purported health benefits. EC regulations currently require the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to draw up a “positive list” of permitted health claims by 2010, but the commission is now discussing further restrictions on functional foods that also contain high levels of sugar, saturated fat or salt. According to EFSA, the agency has received “4,185 main health claim entries” that each comprise “a food component, a health relationship and an example of wording.” This review process “takes into account the conditions of use and references available for around 10,000 similar health claims.” Meanwhile, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has asked the commission to restrict advertising for products with more than 15 percent sugar content, although the final threshold appears likely to fall between 20-25 percent sugar content. Several…
European agricultural ministers have approved the sale of meat and milk from the direct offspring of cloned animals, but those products reportedly still have to receive the approval of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) before they can be sold in the European Union. Meat and milk from cloned animals themselves cannot be sold. An EFSA report issued in July 2008 apparently concluded that “there is no indication that differences exist in terms of food safety for meat and milk of clones and their progeny compared with those from conventionally bred animals. Such a conclusion is based on the assumption that meat and milk are derived from healthy animals, which are subject to relevant food safety controls.” The agency has conceded that the limited number of studies does cast uncertainty on the risks related to consumption of food derived from cloned animals. In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration approved…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) have published a joint report on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), concluding that “food-producing animals such as pigs, veal calves and broiler chickens often carry without symptoms a specific strain of MRSA called CC398.” The report apparently warns that farm workers, veterinarians and their families face the greatest risk of contracting CC398, which has been “associated, albeit rarely, with serious skin and soft tissue infections, pneumonia and blood poisoning in humans.” EFSA has noted, however, that even if food becomes tainted with MRSA, “there is currently no evidence that eating or handling contaminated food can lead to an increased risk for humans.” The agencies have also stated that “as animal movement and contact between live animals and humans are likely to be important factors in the transmission of MRSA, the most…
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has reportedly indicated that the agency will review its 2008 decision that bisphenol A (BPA) in children’s food and beverage containers is, for the most part, safe. An agency spokesperson has apparently indicated that a new decision on the chemical, which is also used to seal canned food containers, will be released within “weeks not months.” The action comes after House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) asked the commissioner to reconsider the agency’s decision in light of “longstanding questions about the scientific data relied on by FDA under the previous Administration, as well as new press accounts detailing the influence of industry lobbyists on FDA’s scientific analyses.” Waxman cites several Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel articles, based on agency emails and a leaked industry report of a public relations strategy meeting, apparently indicating that (i) “when FDA conducted its review of BPA,…
EU environment ministers have reportedly upheld the sovereign right of nations to outlaw genetically modified (GM) crops even when approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The European Commission (EC) had asked the ministers to overturn Austria’s and Hungary’s ban on a GM maize produced by Monsanto, but 22 states backed the countries’ measures over the opposition of the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden. Green MEP Caroline Lucas then accused the commission of trying to “bulldoze through their pro-GM agenda in spite of public opposition.” “I just hope that [EC President José Manuel Barroso] will realize the commission needs to change its position of GMOs,” Lucas was quoted as saying. The ministers will next week consider a similar GM maize ban pending in France and Greece. Although the European Union currently imports animal feed made with GM crops, member states have balked at allowing farmers to cultivate…
German authorities have reportedly asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide a risk assessment for 4-methylbenzophenone, a food packaging chemical similar to benzophenone and hydroxybenzophenone that both have a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.01 mg/kilogram of body weight. Officials alerted EFSA through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed after a customer identified the common photo-inhibitor in a chocolate crunch muesli product at levels approaching 798 µm/kilogram parts per billion (ppb). The European Commission has also requested a reevaluation of the TDI set for the two related chemicals. EFSA anticipates that it will publish its assessment of 4-methylbenzophenone by March 3, 2009, with an opinion on other food contact materials, enzymes, flavorings and processing aids expected by the end of May. See FoodProductionDaily.com, February 24, 2009.
The European Food Safety Authority’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) has rejected a health claim dossier submitted by Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., that sought to link consumption of its products to a reduced risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) in women. Ocean Spray asserted that dried cranberries and juice drinks containing 80 milligrams of cranberry proanthocyanidins (PAC) lessened UTI risk in women older than age 16 by “inhibiting the adhesion of certain bacteria in the urinary tract.” Although NDA acknowledged that some in vitro trials have supported this claim, the panel ultimately cited a lack of convincing clinical trials and ruled that the evidence failed to establish “a cause and effect relationship” between the product and the purported health benefit. Of the 12 studies presented by Ocean Spray, NDA dismissed six because they did not involve normal populations; one because it referenced a higher PAC dosing; and…
The Irish government this week recalled all pork products from pigs slaughtered in the country after testing revealed high levels of dioxin in animal feed and pork fat samples. Authorities have thus far linked the carcinogen to 10 pig farms that received feed from Millstream Power Recycling Limited, a Carlow company which reprocesses foodstuffs to make livestock meal. In addition, Ireland’s Department of Agriculture has placed 45 cattle farms under restrictions because they may have received feed potentially contaminated with dioxins. Health officials stated that three cattle herds of 11 tested had “technically non-compliant” dioxin levels, but stressed that there is “no public health concern” with regard to Irish beef. The government has also declared 490 pig farms “dioxin-free,” although the prohibition on the sale of domestic pork products has remained in effect. See CNN, December 8 and 9, 2008; The Associated Press, December 9, 2008. Meanwhile, the European Commission…
The EFSA Scientific Committee is seeking comments on a draft scientific opinion that addresses engineered nanomaterials (ENM) used in food and feed applications. Acknowledging the limitations of currently available methods, the draft concludes that “established international approaches” are “a suitable starting point for case-by-case risk assessment of ENMs,” but warns against extrapolating scientific data derived from conventional chemical use. “Possible risks arise because ENM have particular characteristics, due in part to their small size and high surface areas,” the committee stated in an October 17, 2008, press release. “There is limited information on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, as well as the toxicity of ENM.” Comments will be accepted through the EFSA website until December 1, 2008. See GMA Biotechnology Digest, October 20, 2008.
