Novel foods - MEPs to set out new rules

Seven to ten applications for novel foods are submitted each year. Since 1 December 1997, there have been almost 100 applications.

 

So far, more than 20 novel foods have been authorised for use in the EU, such as "noni juice" (made from a Tahitian plant) and products derived from new production processes such as "salatrim" (a reduced-energy fat) and DHA-rich oil (a high-pressure fruit juice)

 

Novel foods are defined as those which have not been consumed to any significant degree in the EU before May 1997, when the first legislation on novel foods was established. These can be newly developed products, such as foods produced by new production processes like nanotechnology, but also food that has been consumed traditionally in third countries, outside the EU.

 

The committee supports the use of non-animal tests and intelligent testing strategies when assessing the safety of a novel food.

 

Negotiations with the Council presidency to find a first reading agreement have started, but it is not expected that an agreement will be reached before the plenary vote.

 

The Commission's proposal to update the regulation on novel foods aims at simplifying and centralising the procedure of authorisation of these products, ensuring food safety and human health. Food safety shall be assessed by the European Food Safety Authority, taking into account ethical factors.

 

MEPs in general support the proposal but have proposed amendments, concerning food derived from cloned animals and produced with the aid of nanotechnology, aiming to achieve, not only a high level of food safety, but also consumer, environmental and animal health protection, based on the precautionary principle.

 

The list of novel foods: food derived from cloned animals excluded; new Commission proposal demanded

 

The Environment Committee wants to exclude food derived from cloned animals from the scope of this Regulation, pointing out that a legislative proposal shall be presented by the Commission to interdict the placing on the market of food derived from cloned animals and their descendants.

 

 

MEPs suggest that foods which have been produced by nanotechnology processes, and foods which will need specific risk assessment methods, should be included in the Community list until those methods have been approved for use. “The methods currently available are not adequate for assessing the risks associated with nanomaterials" says the text.

 

The risk assessment methods must not imply the use of vertebrate animals, underline the MEPs, who also support the use of non-animal tests and the intelligent testing strategies.

 

Furthermore, the food containing nanomaterials should be labelled as “produced with the aid of nanotechnology”, say MEPs in the committee.  The Council considers however that the safety evaluation shall guarantee that these products are equally safe as their conventional counterparts, rejecting the need of specific labelling.

 

A definition of nanomaterials shall be included in the regulation: "nanomaterial means an intentionally manufactured material with one or more external dimensions or an internal structure, of order of 100 nm or less" says the text.

 

 

In order to enter a food on the Community list of the novel foods accepted in the EU,  the Committee considers that the opinion of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies shall be sought when necessary, regarding ethical and environment aspects.

 

 

The Committee backs the Commission on the protection of data provided in support of an application for inclusion of a novel food in the Commission list, during a limited period of time, in order to stimulate research and development. Nevertheless, amendments have been tabled regarding the permission to access the studies on vertebrates and other studies that may prevent animal testing and whether the prior and the subsequent applicants have agreed to share data.

 

In addition, the committee wants data to be used by other applicants when the research projects are partly or completely paid by the Commission or by a public institution.

 

 

Novel foods are subjected to the general labelling requirements (Directive 2000/13/EC), but they may require specific additional information.

 

The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) scientific opinion on nanotechnology published in 2009 concluded that currently there are data limitations and a lack of validated test methodologies for risk assessments.

 

Among other recommendations, the EFSA urges additional research on nano materials' interaction in food and feed, in the gastro-intestinal tract and in biological tissues.

 

The European Group on Ethics in Science and the New Technologies and the Scientific Committee of the EFSA published their opinions in 2008 regarding the production of food from clones and their offspring, their health and welfare, showing some concerns about the issue.

 

Currently no products derived from cloned animals are sold either in European or in international markets.