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Closing some gaps in EU food safety laws: trans fats, acrylamide and nanomaterials
Camille Perrin
Senior Food Policy Officer
SAFE Annual Conference
21st March 2017
Overview
1. Introduction to BEUC and our work on food issues
2. Protecting consumers from harmful trans fats
3. Acrylamide
4. Tiny particles in our food, what risks for consumers?
BEUC in a nutshell
• The European Consumer Organisation
• Established in 1962 by consumer organisations from 6 countries
• 43 member organisations (EU + EEA)
• Mission = to promote consumer interests in EU decision making.
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Our members
Consumers and food: BEUC’s objectives
• Ensure EU consumers have access to food that is safe, authentic and of fair quality.
• Facilitate informed food choices by consumers, including vulnerable groups, for a healthy and sustainable diet.
• Prevent misleading information and ensure that information is complete and can be trusted.
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Overview
1. Introduction to BEUC and our work on food issues
2. Protecting consumers from harmful trans fats
3. Acrylamide
4. Tiny particles in our food, what risks for consumers?
What are trans fats?
The health effects of trans fats
• TFAs increase the risk of heart disease by raising LDL cholesterol (the “bad” one) while, at the same time, reducing HDL cholesterol (the “good” one).
• Each year cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes over 1.8 million deaths in the EU (37% of all deaths).
Source: European Heart Network. European Cardiovascular Disease Statistics. 2017 edition.
Dietary recommendations for TFAs
• There is scientific consensus to suggest there is no tolerable intake level for TFAs.
– FAO/WHO (2003): TFAs intake should be as low as possible (<1% of total energy intake)
– EFSA (2010): TFAs intake should be as low as possible in the context of a nutritionally adequate diet.
• TFAs in general are an issue but focus should be on removing industrially produced TFAs (for practical reasons and also because they represent biggest percentage of total TFAs intake).
TFAs still an issue for EU consumers
• Our members’ tests have shown that some products on the EU market still contain harmful levels of industrial TFAs (margarines, biscuits, wafers, pizzas, French fries from takeaways).
• Some consumers more at risk:
– Low-income groups [UK report (2010) by the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence (NICE)]
– Teenagers and young adults [Germany, Data of the National Health Survey
2005-2006 (NVZ II) and National Food Monitoring Survey 2008-2009]
– Consumers in eastern EU countries generally more exposed (reformulation efforts have been unequal) ... but food produced in EU12 can harm the health of western consumers too, as we live in an open market.
How different countries have dealt with TFAs
• Denmark was first Member State to set legal limit of 2g TFAs per 100g of oil or fat (2003).
• Switzerland (2008), Austria (2009), Iceland (2011), Hungary (2013), Norway (2014) and Latvia (2015) have followed suit.
• US (2006) and Canada (2005) have mandatory labelling of TFAs amounts in food.
• A number of EU countries (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK, Greece) have relied upon self-regulation/reformulation by industry.
The Danish success story (1)
Source: Pr. S. Stender European Parliament Workshop (2013)
The Danish success story (2)
Source: Pr. S. Stender European Parliament Workshop (2013)
The limits of self-regulation: the German example
Source: Trans fatty acid isomers and the trans-9/trans-11 index in fat containing foods. K. Kuhnt, M. Baehr, C. Rohrer, and G. Jahreis. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol. 2011 Oct; 113(10): 1281–1292.
Mean and median TFA proportion of all analysed food categories (% FAME) (––– median, – – – mean, x represents values outside the 10th and 90th percentile).
A (too) long road towards regulating TFAs in the EU?
Nov. 2011 - FIC Regulation 1169/2011
Dec. 2015 - EC report on TFAs “A legal limit for industrial TFA content would be the most effective measure in terms of public health, consumer protection and compatibility with the internal market”
Dec. 2014 - Original deadline for EC TFAs report + possibly legislative measures
Stakeholder consultations via Advisory Group on Food Chain and JRC questionnaire
Oct. 2016 - Publication of EC Inception Impact Assessment on TFAs
Oct. 2015
Sept. 2015 - WHO EURO report on TFAs “a legal limit is suggested as an effective policy option and eventually effective at reducing intake across all socio-economic groups in the population”
Impact assessment, public consultation, ….
By end 2017? Publication of EC Impact Assessment + legislative proposals?
Oct. 2016 - European Parliament calls for EU legal limit on industrial TFAs
Protecting all EU consumers from harmful TFAs in their diet
• Option 0 – No EU policy change
• Option 1 – Establishment of a limit for industrial TFAs content in food
– Sub-option a) Voluntary agreement with industry
– Sub-option b) legal limit
• Option 2 – Mandatory labelling of TFAs content in the nutrition declaration
• Option 3 – Ban on the use of partly hydrogenated oils (PHO) in food
– Sub-option a) Voluntary agreement with industry
– Sub-option b) legally binding measure ?
Overview
1. Introduction to BEUC and our work on food issues
2. Protecting consumers from harmful trans fats
3. Acrylamide
4. Tiny particles in our food, what risks for consumers?
Tests by BEUC members (1)
Source: FRC, Switzerland, 2016 (beers)
Source: Test-Achats, Belgium, 2014 (French fries, crisps and toasted bread)
Tests by BEUC members (2)
Source: OCU, 2012 (crisps)
Source: Consumentenbond, 2013 (crisps)
Tests by BEUC members (3)
Source: Norwegian Consumer Council, 2016 (gingerbread)
What is needed to reduce acrylamide in Europeans’ food
• Robust Codes of Practice including a set of mandatory mitigation measures to be applied (not just “assessed”) by businesses.
• Immediate revision (lowering) of the acrylamide “benchmarks”.
• Legally binding maximum limits to facilitate enforcement and ensure businesses take the acrylamide issue seriously.
• Regular controls by national authorities.
• Consumer awareness-raising campaigns.
What consumers can do at home
Source: EFSA
Source: DECO
Source: OCU
Overview
1. Introduction to BEUC and our work on food issues
2. Protecting consumers from harmful trans fats
3. Acrylamide
4. Tiny particles in our food, what risks for consumers?
Food applications of nanotechnology
Why regulating nanos in food?
• Different physical and chemical properties compared with same substances at normal scale.
• Growing scientific evidence that:
– free nanoparticles can cross cellular barriers
– exposure to some engineered nanoparticles may lead to oxidative damage and inflammatory reactions.
• Data gaps and limitations persist for risk assessment of nanomaterials in food.
• Consumers unsure whether nanotechnology is safe for their health or not, while they see no clear benefits of application in food area.
What does EU food law say about nanos?
• Reg. (EU) 2015/2283 on Novel Foods: “food consisting of engineered nanomaterials”
scientific assessment prior to authorisation to ensure safety
• Reg. (EU) 1169/2011 on Food Information to Consumers Art. 18(3): “All ingredients present in the form of engineered nanomaterials shall be clearly indicated in the list of ingredients. The names of such ingredients shall be followed by the word ‘nano’ in brackets.”
nano labelling requirement
Is this properly enforced?
• Nano food labelling requirement applies since December 2014.
• Tests by NGOs in France, the US and Australia have revealed the presence of nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (E 171) and silica (E 551) in very popular foodstuffs.
• Still, no food on the EU market label these additives as ‘nano’ in the list of ingredients.
Friends of the Earth Australia, 2015.
Agir Pour l’Environnement, 2016.
A definition issue
FIC Regulation/Novel Foods:
‘engineered nanomaterial’ means any intentionally produced material that
has one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less or that is
composed of discrete functional parts, either internally or at the surface,
many of which have one or more dimensions of the order of 100 nm or less,
including structures, agglomerates or aggregates, which may have a size
above the order of 100 nm but retain properties that are characteristic of the
nanoscale.
What’s needed to adequately protect and inform consumers? (1)
• A precautionary approach to the use of nanotechnologies in food
The case of titanium dioxide E 171
What’s needed to adequately protect and inform consumers? (2)
• A strict definition of engineered nanomaterial (ENM)
– Based on a (number-based) threshold lower than 50% (e.g. 10% as put forward by EFSA in 2012)
– That does not place the burden of proof on authorities to demonstrate whether the ENM was intentionally produced or not.
