Derio. 21 November 2009. Nearly one hundred European experts in food regulation and safety from European agencies from different countries, as well as from the scientific and business sectors, held a meeting at the end of November in Amsterdam in the XIII scientific symposium organised by the EFSA (European Food Safety Agency).

The symposium arose from the request of the European Commission for scientific support from the EFSA regarding certain aspects covered in the proposal draft for the modification of Regulation 258/97 on “Novel Foods” (food and ingredients not consumed in the EU before 1997), that has been in force for more than 10 years.

This new proposal covers four primary areas: the centralisation of the authorisation process for new foods/ingredients, in order to speed up processing to periods shorter than 21 months; the history of the safe consumption of traditional foods from third world countries before their commercialisation in the EU; more data protection for the companies that research and launch new foods; and the collection of data to validate the safety of new foods processed with emerging technologies, such as nanotechnologies.

Specifically, Josune Ayo, from AZTI-Tecnalia, was selected by the EFSA as an expert to participate in the unification of the criteria followed for the collection of data regarding food consumption, paying special attention to functional foods/ingredients and dietary supplements between the different EU countries. This consumption database will serve as a tool to assess the impact of the new functional ingredients and foods on the global diet of the average European consumer before their approval. This way, the maximum doses and consumption specifications for these products will be established.

This debate has covered key aspects that will help companies to provide the necessary technical and scientific information to prepare the applications for new foods and ingredients before their commercialisation within the European Union.

The first reading of the regulation proposal will be done in December (Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Novel Foods and Amending Regulation (EC) 1331/2008) based on the scientific opinions from the consensus met in the symposium. If there is a consensus, the proposal would move forward, and it would be adopted in the next two months, coming into effect in approximately two years, in 2012.

Further information:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211903084139.htm

http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902675847.htm

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