The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched two public consultations on draft guidance for feed additives. Issued by EFSA’s Panel on Additives and Products or Substances Used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP), the first draft document offers guidance “for the preparation of dossiers for the renewal of the authorization for feed additives.” Under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003, FEEDAP currently requires applicants to renew feed additive permits every 10 years by providing enough technical information to “enable an assessment to be made of additives based on the current state of knowledge.” The panel has also requested feedback on draft guidance stemming from its updated assessment “of the toxigenic potential of Bacillus species used in animal nutrition.” According to EFSA, “Bacillus species are used in animal production directly as microbial feed additives or as the source of other feed additives, notably enzymes,” although certain strains—such as those in the…
Category Archives Europe
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published its recommendations for improving meat inspection procedures in the European Union (EU) after a previous assessment found that “traditional practices... are not always suitable for detecting the main meat borne hazards such as Campylobacter and Salmonella or contamination by chemical substances.” Billed as “a major piece of work that will provide the scientific basis for the modernization of meat inspection across the EU,” the four new opinions address the potential public health risks of meat derived from solipeds, farmed game, sheep, goats, and cows, in addition to setting “harmonized epidemiological indicators” for identifying biological hazards. Looking at data on the incidence and severity of foodborne diseases in humans as well as the outcomes of various residue testing programs, EFSA’s experts ranked the biological and chemical hazards of particular concern for each species, singling out verocytotoxin-producing E. coli, dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls as…
The European Commission (EC) has announced a public consultation on the Nanomaterial Annexes to the regulations governing the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical (REACH) substances. As recommended in the General Review of REACH published in February 2013, the consultation will contribute to the Commission’s “impact assessment of relevant regulatory options, in particular possible amendments of REACH Annexes, to ensure further clarity on how nanomaterials are addressed and safety regulations demonstrated in registration dossiers.” To this end, the EC has asked “informed experts user[s]” to complete a questionnaire about the technical provisions of the REACH Annexes, including whether the current definition of nanomaterials has changed the way companies account for nanomaterials in their portfolio or conduct safety assessments. The survey also seeks input on five proposals being considered by the Commission as it looks to update REACH’s registration requirements by the end of 2013. These proposals include (i) altering…
The European Parliament has reportedly passed legislation regarding the labeling and content of baby formula and other foods for special medical purposes. Included in the new rules, which reportedly take effect in 2016, is a ban on the use of images of babies on infant formula packaging. Specifically, the new rules state that the labeling, presentation and advertising of infant formula and follow-on formula (for babies ages 6 to 12 months old) must not include “pictures of infants, or other pictures or text which may ideali[z]e the use of such formula[]” in order “not to discourage breast-feeding.” Graphic representations intended for “easy identification of the formula and for illustrating methods of preparation” will evidently still be permitted. See European Parliament News Release, June 11, 2013.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a new report, “Marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar to children,” that calls the marketing of “unhealthy” foods to children “disastrously effective,” alleging the food industry is driving rising obesity rates in children by using “cheap new marketing channels, such as social media and smart phone apps” to promote fat-, salt- and sugar-laden foods. “Millions of children across the European Region are subjected to unacceptable marketing practices,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe. “Policy simply must catch up and address the reality of an obese childhood in the 21st century. Children are surrounded by adverts urging them to consume foods high in fat, sugar and salt, even when they are in places where they should be protected, such as schools and sports facilities.” According to a WHO news release, although all 53 member states in the European Region…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published new guidance on ways of assessing the potential risks of producing genetically modified (GM) animals, including fish, insects, mammals, and birds. Although EFSA reports that it has not yet received any applications for GM animals, the European Commission evidently requested that the agency develop environmental risk assessment (ERA) guidance because scientific developments indicate that “future submissions may be made for a number of species.” According to EFSA, the guidance will provide a “clear framework” for evaluating potential adverse effects of living GM animals on the environment and on human and animal health. “The core of the guidance is that ERAs for GM animals must be carried out in a scientifically sound and transparent manner,” said Elisabeth Waigmann, head of EFSA’s GMO Unit. “They must be based on sufficient scientific and technical data that enable conclusions to be drawn on possible environmental risks posed by…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has lowered the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of phenol—a chemical used to make coatings, adhesives and inks in food contact materials—from 1.5 to 0.5 mg/kg bw/day. The action follows a request from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment asking EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) to reassess the TDI because the original value was “within the same dose range which was reported to be associated with some haematotoxic and immunotoxic effects in an oral study on phenol.” In its scientific opinion on the toxicological evaluation of phenol, EFSA stated that the chemical was last evaluated in 1984. The derived TDI does not consider the hazard of possible oxidation products such as quinones and hydroquinones, which CEF suggested should be evaluated separately. The panel also concluded that the “European Commission should consider other routes of exposure, including flavorings,…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) have issued their third joint report “on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria affecting humans, animals and foods.” Based on data collected by member states in 2011, the report notes the “continued presence of resistance to a range of antimicrobials in Salmonella and Campylobacter, the main bacteria causing food-borne infections in the European Union (EU),” although co-resistance to more than one critically important antimicrobial remains low overall. According to the findings, “a high proportion of Campylobacter bacteria … was resistant to the critically important antimicrobial ciprofloxacin” in addition to other commonly used antimicrobials. The data also suggested that Salmonella resistance “to at least three different antimicrobial classes[] was high overall in the EU,” with a large proportion of the bacteria in humans and animals already resistant to commonly used antimicrobials and, in the case of poultry, to ciprofloxacin. “If…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently announced its decision to delay its final opinion on the safety of aspartame until November 2013 “to allow sufficient time to consider and address feedback, including new information, resulting from the public consultation on its draft opinion.” According to the agency, the Scientific Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food (ANS Panel) received more than 200 comments on its January 9, 2013, draft opinion “on issues such as how EFSA’s experts select studies for its risk assessments, the safety of the metabolites of aspartame and how best to express uncertainties highlighted in the draft opinion.” Based on this feedback, ANS Panel experts have purportedly “identified aspects of their draft opinion and key steps in their scientific approach that they would like to clarify further, including the expression of uncertainties, before finalizing their conclusions.” Finding that aspartame and its breakdown products “pose…
The European Commission (EC) has introduced a “landmark package to modernize, simplify and strengthen the agri-food chain in Europe” by reducing the number of food and feed regulations from 70 pieces to five. In addition to addressing regulatory enforcement and funding, the proposed package describes new procedures, preventative measures and risk-based controls related to plant and animal health, including plant reproductive materials. Among other things, the recommendations discuss (i) combining animal health regulations under a single piece of legislation focused on preventative efforts, livestock traceability and disease prioritization; (ii) upgrading the plant health regime to increase surveillance of both domestic and imported crops; and (iii) implementing “more simplified and flexible rules for the marketing of seeds and other plant reproductive material… to ensure productivity, adaptability and diversity of Europe’s crop production.” To finance these goals and improve accountability, the new rules would change the way member states fund official controls…
