Europe is gearing up to do battle over maximum levels of vitamins
and minerals in foods and supplements, according to an industry
lobbyist following the European Commission's publication of a
discussion document detailing key...
World trade discussions and communicating the health benefits of
dairy were the two main topics for discussion in a meeting between
the European Dairy Association and European Commission last week.
Proposed changes to the EU's regulation on novel foods would boost
product innovation in the industry, and make cross-border trading
easier, the European Commission says in a consultative document.
Zila Nutritionals is expanding availability of Ester-C, an advanced
form of vitamin C with a new agreement with distributor Gee Lawson
covering most of Europe.
Following plans in Europe to harmonise health claims in food
labelling, experts at Eversheds law firm claim any new rules will
have to overcome historical scepticism to be truly effective.
Legislation to harmonise vitamin and mineral fortification levels
across EU member states looks set to be adopted within weeks,
following this week's favourable vote by the European Parliament.
European Parliament voted through a compromise to the controversial
Health and Nutrition Claims Regulation yesterday, following frantic
behind-the-scenes negotiations to reach a compromise and avoid
conciliation with the Council.
The EU's legislators yesterday came up with a compromise deal on
nutritional claims, further watering down requirements originally
proposed by the European Commission, according to a newspaper
report.
Self-regulation has become the mantra of food groups who argue that
laws are not always necessary - but can industry be trusted when it
has failed so spectacularly in the past?
Solbar's selection of Danetto Food as its distribution partner for
soy proteins in Finland is the latest initiative designed to
strengthen the firm's position in the European soy protein sector.
Chinese health ingredients supplier Fenchem has been awarded
organic certification in the EU, US and Japan for its plant oils
and green tea extracts, and expects this will boost sales by as
much as 20 per cent.
The European Breakfast Cereal Association (CEEREAL) has hailed two
important pieces of European food legislation as "broadly positive'
for the future of the industry.
BASF and Daiichi, two of the companies involved in the 1990s
vitamin cartel, have had their fines significantly reduced by a
European court, which ruled that the Commission made errors when
calculating the fines.
Many overseas companies selling nutraceuticals in Europe are
risking having their products removed from the market as they have
not gone through the correct regulatory channels, warns a
consultant to the natural products industry.
MEPs have reasserted their position over the proposed EU regulation
on nutrition and health claims, tabling 269 amendments at second
reading in response to a common position that took no account of
the majority of their opinions.
Voluntary food labelling schemes could lead to greater confusion
among consumers at a time when the EU is debating how best to
harmonise regulations across the bloc, argues an industry lawyer.
Revision of the EU Council regulation governing organic food would
allow GM contamination and obscure the local origins of organic
food, according to the Soil Associations Peter Melchett.
The suggestion that EFSA may require companies to pay fees for the
processing of dossiers required under EU legislation has raised
fears over the financial burden this would place on small and
medium enterprises in the health and...
The chances of the European Parliament and Council of Ministers
reaching an agreement over the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Made
on Foods proposal without conciliation looked more unlikely than
ever at a first exchange of views...
Debate over the proposed EU regulation on nutrition and health
claims for food products is likely to heat up in the first half of
2006 as the EU parliament revises its timetable and shunts the
process forward by several months.
The oft-said adage that there are two things people don't want to
see being made - sausage and legislation - falls apart at the doors
of the EU's parliament.
If the EU keeps hiding its agriculture sector behind huge pay
cheques instead of devoting more time to food research funding, the
bloc's whimpering and wailing will only get worse.
Zila Nutritional's agreement with Asahi Godo to distribute Ester-C
in Japan marks a milestone in its international strategy and could
be the US company's key to other countries in the Pacific Rim.
The French food safety authority is advising consumers not to drink
more than 30 ml of noni juice per day as some studies have linked
it with hepatitis.
A new centre-right government in Poland is unlikely to curb the
country's strong opposition to EU sugar reforms as Commission
representatives look for common ground to break the 'no' camp.
Europe's opposition to genetically modified ingredients will
significantly increase producers' costs over the next three years
as it becomes ever harder to secure GM-free supplies, says a new
report.
UK food authorities have told the government to push for national
exceptions to permitted levels of vitamins and minerals under the
new European food supplements law.
Opportunities await for Europe's beer industry to tap into growing
consumer health trends as Belgian brewing scientists offer newly
developed testing to assess the nutritional quality of beers.
Institut Rosell-Lallemand's Lalmin Se has become the standard
against which other organic selenium is measured following the
release of certified reference material (CRM) by Canada's National
Research Council, enabling the...
Institut Rossel-Lallemand's Lalmin Se has become the standard
against which other organic selenium is measured following the
release of certified reference material (CRN) by Canada's National
Research Council, enabling the...
Sales of Novogen's red clover supplements have been boosted by more
targeted advertising and increased distribution in three key
markets, said the firm yesterday.
US-based Reliv International, a direct seller of supplements,
opened its operations in Germany today, one of the world's top five
direct selling markets, reports Dominique Patton.
More than 500 dossiers of information on supplement ingredients
have been submitted to the UK's food authority, giving the products
derogation from the EU supplement directive that enters into force
in less than three weeks time,...
The European food supplements directive is valid, decided a
European court ruling today, ending months of uncertainty for much
of the region's supplements industry, and disappointing those
behind a major effort to overturn the...
The UK-based lobby group the Alliance for Natural Health said today
that it has commissioned independent experts to develop a new
approach to regulating food supplements to replace that proposed by
the 2002 European directive, already...
Natural astaxanthin is about to join the ingredients jostling for
formulators' attention in the eye care market, as Valensa
International's new dietary ingredient notification (NDI) for
Zanthin is approved by the FDA, reports...
The UK's food authority said this week that it will provide up to
£20,000 (€30,000) to pay for external scientists to produce more
dossiers for supplement ingredients not currently on the European
directive's positive list,...
A European regulation on food enzymes, which would demand dossiers
of safety and technical information on each enzyme prior to their
approval on the market, could be published by the Commission by the
end of the year, reports Dominique...
European governments agreed on Friday to stick closely to the
original version of the proposed health claims law, confirming the
battle ahead for pro-industry MEPs seeking major amendments,
writes Dominique Patton.