The European Commission’s (EC’s) Joint Research Centre has published a report that explores various definitions for the term “nanomaterial” currently in use around the world in an effort to devise a single definition that could make nanotechnology amenable to regulation. Titled “Considerations on a Definition of Nanomaterial for Regulatory Purposes,” the report observes that nanomaterials are currently being used in food and nutritional ingredients as well as food packaging. The authors call for a single definition of nanomaterial that will be “broadly applicable in EU legislation and policies, legally clear and unambiguous, enforceable through agreed measurement techniques and procedures, and in line with other approaches worldwide.” According to the report, no official definition for the term has yet been adopted in the United States, but the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a definition for “engineered nanoscale material” under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Category Archives Europe
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 United Kingdom’s (UK) public health watchdog has issued new guidance that claims salt and saturated fat reduction could prevent 40,000 unnecessary deaths a year from heart disease and stroke. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has called for a maximum daily intake of 6g of salt per adult by 2015 and 3g daily by 2025. In addition, it has recommended that manufacturers reduce the levels of saturated fats in all food products and eliminate the use of trans fats. The guidance also urges the National Health Service and other policy makers to (i) ensure that low-salt and low-fat foods can be sold for less than their higher-content equivalents; (ii) extend restrictions on TV advertising “for foods high in saturated fats, salt and sugar to 9 p.m. to protect children”; (iii) encourage “local planning authorities to restrict planning permission for take-aways and other food retail outlets in…
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have apparently voted in favor of draft legislation that would require listing energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt content on the front of food packages. Doing so, they rejected a traffic light system that sought to further emphasize the levels of salt, sugar and fat in processed foods, and opposed parallel schemes run by national regulators. According to a June 14-17, 2010, plenary session report, MEPs approved mandatory front-of-pack (FOP) nutritional information accompanied by guideline daily amounts “expressed with per 100g or per 100ml values.” They also supported (i) stating the amount of protein, fiber and trans fats “elsewhere on the packaging”; (ii) extending country-of-origin labeling regulations to all meat, poultry, dairy, and other single-ingredient products; (iii) labeling meat slaughtered without stunning; (iv) specifying country of origin for “meat, poultry and fish when used as an ingredient in processed food”; and (v) retaining the…
The United Kingdom’s environmental secretary has reportedly endorsed genetically modified (GM) crops, making the current Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the most supportive of GM crops to date. In contrast to the previous government’s unwillingness to back what some apparently fear are “Frankenstein foods,” Secretary Caroline Spelman told a news source that she was in favor of GM foods “in the right circumstances.” Modifying plant genes could reduce the amount of chemicals needed to raise food crops, she said. “GM can bring benefits in food to the marketplace,” Spelman was quoted as saying. “There are benefits to developing countries, like drought resistance or resistance to high salt content in water. The principle of GM technology is [OK] if used well. The technology can be beneficial.” See The Guardian, June 4, 2010.
Health Canada’s Bureau of Chemical Safety has released a survey of bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods that finds low rates of exposure and no risk to public health. Researchers apparently examined samples from 78 domestic and imported canned food products, including pastas, soups, tomato paste, tuna and vegetables. The results indicated that canned tuna products and condensed soups had “the highest BPA levels, in general,” while tomato paste had levels that were “considerably lower.” According to Health Canada, these findings “are consistent with those of past surveys and are not considered to represent a human health concern.” The agency, however, reiterated its commitment to working with the food packaging industry “to better identify the factors which may influence BPA migration to food, with a goal to limit human exposure to BPA to the greatest extent possible.” In a related development, Germany’s environmental agency, Umweltbundesamt (UBA), has advised manufacturers, importers and…
The European Commission (EC) has adopted recommendations for member states to monitor acrylamide levels in food as a way to obtain a consistent reduction of the known carcinogen found in a number of food categories. The recommendations, adopted June 2, 2010, urge member states to provide acrylamide monitoring information to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) by June 1 of each year starting in 2011. The new recommendations call for member states to measure acrylamide levels based on sampling procedures developed in 2007 and suggest that sampling be carried out before products’ expiration date and “at market level,” which means in supermarkets, smaller shops, bakeries, “French fries outlets,” and restaurants “where there is good traceability,” or at production sites. The recommendations set the minimum number of samples that each member state should analyze across 10 categories: ready to-eat French fries; potato crisps; pre cooked French fries and potato products for…
GeneWatch UK Director Helen Wallace has apparently resigned from a Food Standards Agency (FSA) steering committee dedicated to discussing genetically modified (GM) foods, after claiming that the group “is nothing more than a PR exercise on behalf of the GM industry.” Charged with managing a public dialogue on the potential risks and benefits of GM food, the external stakeholders on the committee currently include consumer advocates, trade association representatives, market and policy experts, and scientists. In her May 26, 2010, resignation letter, Wallace pointed to several Freedom of Information requests that allegedly revealed how the Agricultural Biotechnology Council and similar organizations influenced the dialogue agenda and other FSA activities. According to Wallace, the steering committee “was set up from the outset to provide free ‘reputation management’ to the GM industry at taxpayers’ expense.” She also accuses FSA of using the discussion to focus on “on a non-existent positive future where…
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…
The EU Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) has reportedly rejected a draft provision that sought to allow products from cloned animals and their descendants on the European market. ENVI considered the proposal as part of its efforts to update and simplify regulations pertaining to foods that “have not been consumed to any significant degree in the EU before May 1997.” These novel foods include those that are “newly developed, such as food produced by new production processes like nanotechnology, but also foods traditionally consumed outside the EU.” Members of European Parliament apparently voted 42-2 “in favor of entirely excluding food derived from cloned animals and their offspring from the scope of this legislation.” Instead, they have asked the European Commission, which initially proposed regulating these products under the novel foods framework, “to present a separate legislative proposal to prohibit food derived from cloned animals and their…
