Category: Europe
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EFSA Lowers Exposure Limits for Inorganic Arsenic
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has updated its analysis of the occurrence of arsenic in food in Europe, setting lower estimates of dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic than the agency reported in 2009. The analysis includes nearly 3,000 data samples of inorganic arsenic, evidently more toxic than organic compounds, and EFSA reports that the…
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EFSA Issues Opinion on Vitamin D for Bones and Teeth
Following an application to claim that vitamin D is important to normal bone and teeth development in infants and children, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies has issued an opinion affirming that vitamin D contributes to normal development of bones and teeth. The panel noted previous favorable assessments of…
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EFSA Announces Follow-Up Meeting on BPA
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced an April 23, 2014, scientific meeting to discuss its draft opinion on the human health risks of bisphenol A (BPA) for consumers. Developed by the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF), the draft opinion also includes a re-evaluation of the tolerable…
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ASA Deems Lactose-Free Product Claims “Sufficiently Clear”
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that an advertisement for a range of lactose-free products made “sufficiently clear that the Lactofree products were not suitable for dairy allergy sufferers but were suitable for those intolerant to lactose.” Responding to a complaint alleging that the ad failed to adequately differentiate between lactose intolerance and…
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FSA Seeks Comments on Two Novel Food Ingredients
The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has requested public comments on a novel foods application submitted by a Swiss company seeking permission to use algal oil in its food products. The company suggests in its application that the oil, extracted from a newly isolated strain of microalgae, is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acid…
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EFSA Rejects Caffeine and Sterol Claims
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) has issued an opinion reiterating a previous conclusion that products with less than 75 mg of caffeine may not bear an increased alertness claim, because most studies found “no effect of caffeine doses of less than 75 mg on various cognitive tasks (simple…
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EFSA Issues Opinion on Formaldehyde in Animal Feed
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) has issued an opinion on formaldehyde, currently used as a feed additive and a preservative for skimmed milk intended for pigs. Concluding that “although there is no health risk for consumers exposed to the substance through the…
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Ad Watchdog Censures “French Beer” Brewed in UK
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld two complaints alleging that Heineken UK Ltd.’s print and TV advertisements gave the impression that its Kronenbourg 1664 beer was brewed in France and made primarily from French hops, despite text disclaimers stating that the product was “Brewed in the UK.” According to the February 12, 2014,…