The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a public call for data “on the artificial sweetener aspartame (E 951) for consideration in a full re-evaluation to be completed in 2012 as requested by the European Commission [EC].” EFSA has asked interested parties and stakeholders to submit “scientific or technical data—published, unpublished and newly generated—related to the use of aspartame in food and drinks and as a tabletop sweetener.” Originally scheduled for 2020, the aspartame review is “part of the systematic re-evaluation of all authorized food additives in the European Union.” EFSA apparently agreed to move up the proceedings after European Parliament members voiced concerns about the sweetener. “Due to EFSA’s scientific cooperation efforts, particularly with its partners in EU Member States, ongoing liaison with international partners and its stakeholder dialogue, EFSA can draw on a well-established network to ensure that all the relevant data are considered,” stated the agency, which…
Category Archives Europe
German authorities have finally narrowed the field of suspects in an E. coli outbreak affecting Europe, where a reported 31 people have died from a rare strain of the disease. Speaking at a June 10, 2011, press conference, Robert Koch Institute President Reinhard Burger confirmed that an organic bean sprout farm is the likely epicenter, putting to rest widespread public confusion as officials worked frantically—and sometimes erroneously—to pinpoint the source. Although it lacked a set of definitive test results, the institute apparently based its conclusion on evidence showing that people who consumed the bean sprouts at one restaurant were nine times more likely to contract the illness, which has been linked to renal and neurological complications in approximately 700 out of 3,000 total cases. Authorities have since quarantined the Lower Saxony farm, but tomato, cucumber and lettuce farmers implicated at the outset are already seeking compensation for plummeting prices and…
Rumors that Denmark banned the sale of Marmite and other savory yeast extract spreads because they contain added vitamins have apparently given rise to online protests and calls to boycott iconic Danish brands such as Lego®. Media sources have reported that Marmite fans rallied on Facebook and other social media sites after hearing that the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) ordered the product off store shelves along with other fortified foods like Ovaltine and Vegemite. “Spread the word, but most importantly spread the Marmite,” wrote the founder of one Facebook page devoted to expat Marmite aficionados. “Let the rise of the Marmite army begin!” According to DVFA, however, authorities have not banned the spread but simply reiterated that foods with added vitamins, minerals or other substances cannot be marketed in Denmark without agency review and approval. “Products with food additives, vitamins and minerals claims in their marketing need to…
The Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has issued guidance for employers and employees working with nanomaterials and nanoproducts. The guidance provides information about designing suitable control measures to limit exposures according to the current state of knowledge about nanomaterial safety. It also recommends ways of instructing employees about good work practices, potential risks and risk management measures when new nanomaterials are introduced into the workplace. See Nanowerk, May 24, 2011.
General practitioners (GPs) in the United Kingdom will reportedly receive payments each time they advise patients to lose weight and by maintaining lists of those who exceed weight guidelines. The GPs will apparently be able to offer free memberships in diet clubs, paid for by the National Health Service (NHS), as part of the new weight-control program. Critics are reportedly appalled that simply advising a patient to lose weight, without more, will increase GP incomes. They recommend that referrals to programs, such as Weight Watchers® and Slimming World®, would be more effective in addressing an obesity problem that is purportedly costing NHS more than £6 billion annually. See The Telegraph, May 22, 2011.
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued advice for businesses and organizations to ensure compliance with a new EU privacy directive governing the collection of online user data via “cookies” or other technologies that store visitor information on a user’s computer or mobile device. ICO has billed the guidance document as a “starting point for getting compliant rather than a definitive guide,” and has announced its intention to publish separate guidance on enforcement as the regulations are implemented. Effective May 26, 2011, the new rules revise the U.K. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) in accordance with changes made to the EU Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive. Applicable to cookies, flash cookies and all other technologies designed to store or gain access to information stored “in the device of a subscriber or user,” the amended EU directive requires websites to obtain explicit user consent to store a cookie…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its first guidance document assessing the risk of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) applications in food and feed. Prepared in response to a European Commission request, the May 10, 2011, guidance comes after a six-week public consultation period during which EFSA received 256 comments from 36 organizations, including academia, industry, Member States, international authorities, and non-governmental groups. The guidance covers potential risks from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies across the food supply chain, including food additives, enzymes, flavorings, food contact materials, novel foods, feed additives, and pesticides. Outlining six toxicity testing methods, the guidance stresses the need for ongoing risk assessments in the burgeoning field of engineered nanomaterials and additional data on physical and chemical ENM characteristics in comparison with conventional applications. “A thorough characterization of the engineered nanomaterials followed by adequate toxicity testing is essential for the risk assessment of these applications,” EFSA…
Swedish government officials have reportedly asked food processors and packaging companies to submit alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage can linings. The Swedish Chemicals Agency and the National Food Administration want the companies to submit plans by the end of 2011 and manufacturers to outline when BPA alternatives would be available to the food industry. See CN Brewing, April 20, 2011.
The European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) has reportedly amended draft legislation “to ensure that labels are legible, do not mislead, and provide the information that consumers need to make choices.” According to an April 19, 2011, press release, ENVI members have passed draft legislation “that aims to modernize, simplify and clarify” food labels by requiring them to include “mandatory nutritional information, inter alia on artificial trans fats and the country of provenance.” Under the new rules, meat products would also bear additional labeling to indicate “where the animal was born, reared and slaughtered,” whether the animal was “slaughtered without stunning (in accordance with certain religious traditions),” and whether a product is “formed meat” containing various meat parts. The rules would also forbid labels from misleading consumers about replaced ingredients and require foods containing aspartame to be labeled “Contains aspartame (a source of phenylalanine; might be unsuitable…
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has reportedly reassessed the nutritional benefits and risks of intense sweeteners, confirming that two new studies “provide no sufficient scientific basis for a toxicological re-evaluation of aspartame.” ANSES apparently dismissed the first study concerning the effects of aspartame on mice because of methodological deficiencies, while finding the second one insufficient to establish a cause and effect relationship between aspartame and preterm delivery. The agency concluded, however, that it shares “the desire of the European Food Safety Authority to study the toxicological risks inherent in sweeteners.” It thus noted that it intends to “broaden” its aspartame research, as well as initiate “a working group to assess the nutritional benefits and risks of intense sweeteners and the need to draw up recommendations for any vulnerable population groups—including pregnant women—identified in the course of its work.” See ANSES Press Release, March…
