At the behest of the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) has published population reference intakes (PRIs) for vitamin C and adequate intakes (AIs) for manganese “as part of its ongoing work on Dietary Reference Values (DRVs).” Basing its conclusions on the quantity of vitamin C that balances metabolic vitamin C losses in healthy adults, the scientific opinion on vitamin C proposes (i) an average requirement (AR) of 90 mg/day and a PRI of 110 mg/day for men; (ii) an AR of 80 mg/day and a PRI of 95 mg/day for women; and (iii) a PRI of 20 mg/day for infants aged 7-11 months. For children and adolescents, the NDA Panel has set PRIs ranging from 20 mg/day for children aged 1-3 years, to 100 and 90 mg/day for boys and girls aged 15-17 years. It also notes that pregnant…
Category Archives Europe
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances Used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) has issued guidance to assist applicants “in the preparation and submission of technical dossiers for the renewal of the authorization of additives for use in animal nutrition.” According to EFSA, EU regulations require applicants to renew feed additive authorizations every 10 years by submitting stand-alone dossiers that take into account “the most up-to-date scientific knowledge” as well as “the current scientific/methodological approaches.” Although the information included in each dossier will depend on “the additive nature, the functional group, the substance itself, the target animals, and the conditions of use,” the submission must enable regulators to assess the additive in question “based on the current state of knowledge” and to determine whether the additive complies with the “fundamental principles for the renewal of authorization.” “During the last years, the FEEDAP Panel has developed several guidance…
The European Commission-Joint Research Centre and Institute of Food Safety of the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands, at the request of the European Food Safety Authority, have issued a two-part survey regarding nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications that aims to collect information about (i) the current and potential future use of nanomaterials or nanotechnology in agri-food-feed applications, and (ii) regulation, safety assessment and reporting of nanomaterials in different countries. The first part of the survey focuses on the “Production, Use, Import, Research and Development of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and is addressed to (i) companies that produce, import or use the materials in such applications, and (ii) research institutes, research and development departments of industry, or others active in research and development of materials or products containing nanomaterials in agri-food-feed applications. The second part of the survey focuses on the “Regulation and Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Agri-Food-Feed Applications” and…
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) recently joined a coalition of nongovernmental organizations in criticizing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ahead of the agency’s October 3, 2013, stakeholder meeting on transparency in risk assessment. Led by CEO and backed by groups such as Cancer Prevention and Education Society, Friends of the Earth Europe and GMWatch, the coalition argues in an October 1 open letter that EFSA’s current system for approving food products for market is flawed insofar as the agency’s decision-making process relies on confidential dossiers submitted by industry. In particular, the signatories claim that under international and EU law, EFSA must disclose the contents of these dossiers and should also ensure that the studies used to support its market approvals adhere to the same high standards as those set by peer-reviewed journals. To this end, the coalition recommends that EFSA provide “complete, unrestricted and proactive online publication of applicants’ files,”…
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has released a report that warns of the risks associated with consumption of energy drinks, particularly for children, pregnant women and people with certain genetic predispositions, such as cardiovascular or psychiatric and neurological disorders, kidney failure or liver disease. The agency also recommends that consumers stop drinking the beverages in combination with alcohol and during physical exercise, suggesting stricter laws on advertising and prohibiting the products from sporting events and festivals. Noting that caffeine has long been consumed throughout the world, ANSES reports that its “novel and increasingly popular presentation in the form of so-called energy drinks is changing consumption patterns,” with approximately 30 percent of the French population consuming enough energy drinks “to push themselves into states of anxiety (around six espressos).” French National Assembly Social Security Budget Rapporteur Gérard Bapt reportedly intends to propose a special…
The European Commission (EC) has issued a draft rule amending Regulation 1169/2011—a food information and labeling rule adopted in 2011—with regard to use of the term “nano” to describe food additives. The amended rule requires adherence to the definition of “engineered nanomaterial” provided in Recommendation 2011/696/EU, because this rule “reflects the technical and scientific progress to date.” The revised rule further states that the definition of a nanomaterial should be “linked” to the International Organization for Standardization’s definition that an engineered nanomaterial is “a nanomaterial designed for a specific purpose or function.” According to the revised regulation, some food additives, which had been registered as “nano,” may no longer be categorized as such. Noting that it would be “unsuitable” and confusing for certain food additives to be preceded by the word “nano,” the revision states that “food additives included in the [Union lists] should not be mandatorily qualified as ‘nano’ in the…
The U.K. Food Standards Agency has reportedly issued a nationwide warning about misleading and illegal claims for manuka honey, a product derived from the manuka tree in southeastern Australia and New Zealand and endorsed by many celebrities who claim that it contains unique anti-bacterial and medicinal properties. According to news sources, manuka honey commands prices 10 to 20 times higher than other types of honey. Tests by the U.K. Food Environment Research Agency (Fera), New Zealand’s Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) and others, however, suggest that many of the products labeled “manuka honey” contain none of its unique active properties, prompting industry leaders to demand a crackdown on a “potentially huge fraud.” Industry data have apparently revealed that New Zealand—the main source of manuka honey—produces only 1,700 tons of the honey each year, while consumption data show that an estimated 10,000 tons is sold worldwide annually, with 1,800 tons…
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has announced a public consultation seeking feedback on a proposal submitted by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) to reclassify bisphenol A (BPA) based on its alleged reproductive toxicity. According to ECHA, the proposal would upgrade the harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) of BPA from reproductive toxicity category 2 (hazard statement code H361f, “suspected of damaging fertility”) to reproductive toxicity category 1B (hazard statement code H360F, “may damage fertility”). “France welcomes any new classification proposal for other endpoints such as carcinogenicity, development or lactation but believes that the emergency for regulating BPA is high enough justifying targeted CLH report and ATP inclusion at [sic] the first place,” states ANSES in its dossier, which includes an evaluation of BPA studies published since the last CLH evaluation was undertaken in 2002. In addition, ECHA has emphasized that the current public consultation…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled that pasta manufacturer NAH Foods, Ltd. cannot use a magazine ad for its “Slim Pasta” that features the heading “Zero Calorie Pasta?” and the subheading “UK & Ireland’s No.1 Best Selling Zero Calorie Pasta, Noodles & Rice” because tests of the product revealed that it actually contains 7.7 calories per 100 grams. In its defense, the company pointed out that the advertisement’s heading, “zero calorie pasta?”, contained a question mark and argued that it had not claimed “zero calorie pasta,” but ASA, while noting the question mark, decided that “consumers would infer that the advertiser was selling zero calorie pasta.” According to European regulation, a food can claim to be energy-free if it contains no more than 4 calories per 100 ml, and to make a low-energy claim, a food must contain no more 40 calories per 100 g for solid foods,…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued guidance principles for conducting two-year whole food studies “to assess the risk of cancer and/or toxicity from the long-term consumption of such foods by humans.” Acting at the behest of the European Commission, EFSA relied on testing guidance (TG) 453 from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in addition to considering the views of member state experts consulted through the Scientific Network for the Risk Assessment of GMOs. The agency has cautioned, however, that testing individual chemicals in animal models “may result in adverse effects caused by dietary imbalance rather than any potential toxicity of the whole food itself,” urging researchers to carefully design studies to avoid this outcome and to use a larger number of animals when conducting whole food studies. “[I]t is essential that scientists implementing its guiding principles should define clear and specific objectives before starting a two-year…
