Meeting of the EFSA Stakeholder Consultative Platform

EU Food Consumption Database (“EU Menu”)

The development of a comprehensive EU Food Consumption Database was approved by the EFSA Management Board in November 2009 and the 27 EU food safety agencies approved the project in February 2010.

It is intended that the database will allow EFSA to improve the accuracy of food safety risk assessments and ensure full protection to the consumer. Furthermore, from the disease prevention perspective, such a database will facilitate the development of evidence-based policies to reduce the prevalence of diet-related diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type II. The improvement in consistency and reliability of exposure will be complemented by an improvement in the representativeness of data, in order to capture regional differences, vulnerable groups and high consumers (differences in ethnic diets for example).

Currently the EU operates a concise food consumption database which covers 19 countries. However, data is collected using broad food categories that don’t allow for real analysis of consumption, and the methodologies used do not provide the highest level of validity. Nevertheless, the comprehensive food consumption database will use detailed food categories and will use food frequency questionnaires at an individual level to ensure the maximum validity of data. The collection of data will involve between 50,000-80,000 people in total and will cover 27 Member States if possible.

EFSA will consult further with stakeholders, with a view to gathering advice from external partners.

EFSA’s Opinions on Dietary Reference Values

The work undertaken on dietary reference values forms part of EFSA’s wider work on nutrition, which includes advice on food-based dietary guidelines, nutrient profiles and the assessment of health and nutrition claims applications.

EFSA acknowledges that the work undertaken on dietary reference values are an important basis for work at a European level in the field of nutrition, such as nutrition labelling. Dietary reference values are the starting point for the development of nutritional recommendations, and EFSA was tasked with establishing a set of reference values that could be used across the Community.

The most controversial opinions EFSA gave were for dietary fibre and for total carbohydrates. For dietary fibre the controversy surrounded the definition of dietary fibre that was used, whilst for total carbohydrates the focus was on the conclusion that it was not possible to set a dietary reference value for (added) sugars. The Nutrition Dietetics and Allergies (NDA) Panel, responsible for these opinions, concluded there was not enough scientific evidence linking sugars to diet-related diseases. Following the publication of the opinion, EFSA received numerous consultation responses from international and national health actors indicating the nature of the evidence and the link to diet-related diseases. EFSA did not revise its opinion but did acknowledge that the evidence provided through consultation does indirectly link sugars to diet-related diseases as part of an energy-dense diet. The EFSA opinion contradicts recommendations from both the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization.

EFSA’s Opinions of Health and Nutrition Claims

The European Commission tasked EFSA with reviewing the scientific evidence for health and nutrition claims submitted by the Member States. Please see the EPHA article on health and nutrition claims assessment for the background to the process. Despite the heavy workload, EFSA has proceeded to publish its opinions, in order to comply with requirements for transparency. Certain economic operators have withdrawn their claims, anticipating that they would not be approved by EFSA. EFSA has applied strict criteria to ensure that health and nutrition claims are scientifically substantiated.

Some claims that EFSA initially rejected are being reviewed under instruction from the European Commission. The so-called ’grey list’ of claims requires that more evidence be submitted, that there is increased characterisation of the intended effect of the agent, and that the evidence submitted establishes cause and effect.

EFSA will organise a technical meeting with stakeholders on recent developments related to health claims on 1 June 2010 in Parma, Italy. Member State experts, the European Commission, food industry and NDA staff will be invited to participate. The meeting is also open to other stakeholders.

Working Group on the Engagement of Stakeholders in EFSA’s Activities

Following discussions at the Stakeholder Consultative Platform and a consultation with the members of the Platform, the EFSA Secretariat proposed to establish a working group to examine the engagement and involvement of stakeholders in EFSA’s activities. EPHA stressed in the consultation that further working groups would be a strain on limited resources and argued that any working group established would have to maintain a balance of interests between non-governmental representatives and economic operators. And they would need to be chaired by the EFSA Secretariat. These recommendations have been largely acknowledged by EFSA as valid concerns and taken on board. The first working group will discuss stakeholder engagement, and the discussions will be summarised in a paper that will be fed back to the Stakeholder Consultative Platform for further discussion.

The deadline for an expression of interest is 30 April 2010.

For further information:

The European Food Safety Authority

EPHA related articles:

Meeting Report from EFSA-EPHA Bilateral Meeting- 13 April 2010

Report from joint meeting of the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

EFSA Press Release: Opinions on ’health claims of general function’ released

Health claims on food products discussed at EFSA Technical Meeting