Nutrition on the Internet

Citation

Stephen Fallows, D. (2000), "Nutrition on the Internet", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 30 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2000.01730bag.001

Nutrition on the Internet

As indicated in the last issue of Nutrition & Food Science, this is the second of a pair of linked articles that concentrate on materials available from the European Union (EU) Web sites. The first article identified six main categories of material posted to the EU Web sites:

1. 1.

   Items of legislation such as new regulations and directives.

2. 2.

   Descriptions of EU systems and procedures.

3. 3.

   Agendas and minutes of meetings.

4. 4.

   Notices.

5. 5.

   Opinions.

6. 6.

   Reports.

The first article concentrated on the first four categories. This second article focuses on the fifth and sixth categories.

It is likely that most readers will find these to be the most useful class of materials provided on the EU Web sites.

Opinions

The several scientific advisory committees, referred to in the previous article, provide detailed scientific evaluations of the issues put before them - these evaluations are referred to as "opinions". Opinions are also provided by Committees with other responsibilities and terms of reference (for example the Consumers' Committee).

It is European Commission policy to publish the full text of opinions on its Web site (specifically on that portion of the Web site allocated to the Directorate General with responsibilities for health and consumer protection (DG24)). The text is provided in Adobe Acrobat format.

Examples of opinions relevant to food and nutrition and published during 1999 include:

Scientific Steering Committee

The Scientific Steering Committee meets in plenary session each month. In addition, there are other meetings at which sub-Committees work to prepare draft opinions for consideration at the plenary sessions.

18 February 1999

• •

  Method to assess the geographical BSE-risk of countries or regions. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out39_en.html

18 March 1999

• •

  Possibility of vertical transmission of BSE (i.e. from mother to offspring). The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/ssc/out43_en.html

28 May 1999

• •

  Surveillance of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in sheep and goats in relation to the risk of infection with BSE. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/ssc/out48_en.html

• •

  Monitoring of some of the important aspects of the evolution of the BSE epidemic in the UK. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/ssc/out49_en.html

• •

  Antimicrobial (antibiotic) resistance. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/sd/ssc/out_50.html

22 July 1999

• •

  Conditions relating to "BSE negligible risk" bovine herds. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/sd/ssc/out_56.html

28 October 1999

• •

  Scientific grounds of the advice of 30 September 1999 of the French Food Safety Agency (the Agence Franµaise de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments AFSSA)), to the French Government on the Draft Decree amending the Decree of 28 October 1998 establishing specific measures applicable to certain products of bovine origin exported from the UK. (That is, on the French advice to continue with a prohibition on imports of beef from the UK.) The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/sd/ssc/out_62.html

Scientific Committee on Food

The Scientific Committee on Food meets every two months. Opinions adopted at recent meetings have included the following:

24 March 1999

• •

  Propane, butane and iso-butane as propellant gases for vegetable oil-based aerosol cooking sprays and water-based emulsion cooking sprays. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out26_en.html

• •

  Additional monomers and additives for food contact materials. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out27_en.html

• •

  Bisphenyl A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) (this is a lacquer used to coat certain food cans). The URL is: http://www.europa. eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out28_en.html

• •

  Ethylhydroxyethyl cellulose (Addendum to the earlier opinion on the re-evaluation of five modified celluloses). The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out29_en.html

The SCF also discussed GM products that do not require labelling. The specific question posed concerned the validity of "the scientific base for determining whether food products derived from GM soya and GM maize could be included in a list of foods which do not require labelling because they do not contain detectable traces of DNA or protein". (This definition is included in the 1998 novel foods regulation.) The SCF released a statement (see URL below) in which it re-confirmed the earlier opinion (see second URL below):

• •

  http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out30_en.html

• •

  http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/oldcomm7/out15_en.html

12 May 1999

• •

  Substances for nutritional purposes which have been proposed for use in the manufacture of foods for particular nutritional purposes ("Parnuts"). The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out31_en.html

16 June 1999

• •

  Dioxins in milk derived from cattle fed on contaminated feed in Belgium. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out32_en.html

• •

  The scientific basis for determining whether food products derived from genetically modified soya or maize could be included in a list of food products which do not require labelling because they do not contain (detectable) traces of DNA or protein. See http://www.europa. eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out33_en.html (The above revisits an issue considered earlier in the year.)

• •

  The use of stevioside as a sweetener. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out34_en.html

• •

  The safety assessment of phospholipids obtained from egg yolk using a new process. The URL is: http://www.europa. eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out35_en.html

• •

  Use of Stevis rebaudiana Bertibini plants and leaves as foods. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out36_en.html

• •

  Assessment of an additional list of monomers and additives for food contact materials. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out37_en.html

22 September 1999

• •

  Evaluation of coumarin as a food additive. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out40_en.html

• •

  Assessment of an additional list of monomers and additives for food contact materials. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out41_en.html

• •

  Also at this meeting the SCF recorded a Minute statement on measures taken by the European Commission during the management of the contamination of the Belgian food supply with PCBs and dioxins. The URL is: http://www.europa. eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scf/out38_en.html

Opinions "in the pipeline" at the time of writing include the following topics:

• •

  Assessment of a genetically modified variety of tomato.

• •

  Dioxins and PCB contamination of foods.

• •

  Evaluation of erythritol as a food additive.

• •

  Evaluation of exposure to the food additive nisin.

• •

  Evaluation of a survey on dietary intake of di-2-(ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) as a food contact material.

• •

  Ngali nuts as novel foods.

Once the opinion has been confirmed for each of the above topics, this will be available via the Internet. These and subsequent SCF opinions will follow the above convention with respect to the URL.

Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health

15 March 1999

• •

  Public health aspects of the use of bovine somatotrophin. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scv/out19_en.html

30 April 1999

• •

  The potential risks to human health from hormone residues in bovine meat and meat products. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scv/out21_en.html

23 September 1999

• •

  Listeria monocytogenes. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scv/out25_en.html

• •

  Evaluation of microbiological criteria for food products of animal origin for human consumption. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scv/out26_en.html

Scientific Committee for Plants

18 May 1999

• •

  Invocation by Greece of the "safeguard clause" in respect of placing on the market of GM oilseed rape. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scp/out36_en.html

• •

  Invocation by France of the "safeguard clause" in respect of placing on the market of GM oilseed rape. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scp/out37_en.html

• •

  Invocation by France of the "safeguard clause" in respect of placing on the market of GM oilseed rape. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scp/out38_en.html

24 September 1999

• •

  Invocation by Austria of the "safeguard clause" in respect of placing on the market of GM maize. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/sc/scp/out49_en.html

Consumers' Committee

1 March 1999

• •

  Resistance to antibiotics - a threat to public health. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/policy/committee/cc08_en.html

From the examples cited above, it can be observed that the food and nutrition matters are covered by a number of the Scientific Committees:

• •

  The Scientific Steering Committee deals with BSE as well as providing a co-ordinating overview on other matters that cross disciplines.

• •

  The Scientific Committee on Food covers food additives, food contaminants, food contact materials.

• •

  The Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health considers the impact of veterinary interventions on human health.

• •

  The Scientific Committee on Plants deals with matters concerning GM plants and the likelihood of implications for human health.

Reports

Food-related reports posted to the EU Web sites are largely concerned with investigations of matters of immediate concern (such as a contamination incident) or planned reviews of procedures and practice within an EU Member State or third country.

Recent (1999) examples of urgent matters include:

• •

  Mission to The Netherlands to investigate possible irregularities in trade in beef. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/vi/reports/vi_rep_neth_04_en.html

• •

  Mission to Iran in the field of contamination of pistachio nuts with aflatoxins. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/pi/reports/pi_rep_iran_01-en.html

• •

  Mission to Belgium concerning the contamination of foodstuffs with dioxins and poly-chlorinated biphenols (PCBs). The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/fnaoi/reports/contaminants/belgium/index_en.html

• •

  Mission to France to investigate the utilisation of prohibited materials in animal feeds. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/fnaoi/reports/contaminants/france/index_en.html

Recent (1999) examples of planned reviews include:

• •

  Mission to the UK for the purpose of auditing the monitoring of residues in live animals and their products. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/vi/reports/vi_rep_unik_03_en.html

• •

  Veterinary inspections -- missions to the UK. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/vi/reports/vi_rep_ unik_04_en.html

• •

  Organic farming. The URL is: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/fnaoi/reports/organic_farming/unik/index_en.html

(With reference to planned reviews, the above list gives details only of reviews of UK procedures. Each year dozens of reviews are carried to inspect the plant and animal health protection systems in the EU Member States and in those countries wishing to export foods and other agricultural products to the EU.)

In addition to the above, the EU also posts further reports that provide annual summaries of activities. The following gives an example:

• •

  Nation by nation summaries of co-ordinated surveillance programmes for 1996 and 1997. The URL is: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/health/afh/afh03_en.html

Endnote: a promise

This article has completed the fulfilment of a promise to provide a review of some of the European Union's materials available via the Internet. I will end with a second promise - in Issue 6, later this year, I will provide a review of some of the more interesting documents that have been posted on the EU Web sites after completion of this article.

If you have identified a Web site likely to be of interest to readers of Nutrition & Food Science please contact the author of this series of articles as follows: by e-mail to stephen.fallows@luton.ac.uk; by fax to 01234 766926 or 01582 743237; by post to the University of Luton.

Dr Stephen FallowsUniversity of Luton