Vegetable by-products in the European food legislative framework

Vegetable by-products are a source of many useful bioactive compounds, dietary fiber, fatty acids and proteins that have a great potential in the development of new food products and the promotion of the circular economy and sustainability.Considering processed pepper by-products as an example, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of EU food legislation that should be taken into account before placing such products on the market, as well as of the voluntary labeling of functional, nutritional and sustainability benefits important for consumers.

Determination of Caffeine and Sodium Benzoate in Both Imported and Locally Manufactured Energy Drinks Using HPLC and Spectrophotometer

Three groups of energy drinks have been examined for sodium benzoate and caffeine using HPLC and spectrophotometer methods. Those brands include original UK brand which coded (RE), another two brands of (RL and B) which are imported from Austria to local companies, and the rest produced locally which are coded (T, FB, S and FE). The results showed that all brands contain sodium benzoate at different concentrations. FB brand comes out on top by containing around 416mg/l which was far above the permitted level by FAO/WHO, on the other hand the RE brand contained the lowest amount of sodium benzoate when analysed using HPLC. Results of caffeine examination showed that all samples contained lower levels of caffeine as it is claimed in their label to contain 300mg/l, in contrary to sodium benzoate the lowest concentration of caffeine found in the FB brand which was 13.78mg/l and the highest level of caffeine was found in FE brand which was 208.95mg/l. From the obtained results it is clear that none of the energy drink brands declared the actual content of both caffeine and sodium benzoate which usually required by food legislation and law. Therefore, it is considered as mislabelling which is recommended that the health authorities in our country to subject the local producers and the importers to present the required information on the labels without misleading consumers. It is also recommended to educate the population and put restriction on the local shops and supermarkets not to sell energy drinks to individuals under 16 years old.

Differences in fishery and aquaculture products, their production and sale technical regulations in Eurasian Economic Union and legislation and practice of the European Union

The mandatory requirements for the fishery and aquaculture products, their production and sale in force in the territory of the Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union (CU EAEU) arise from the regulatory and legal acts of the Eurasian Economic Union and its predecessor - the Customs Union - and apply in a package approach similar to the law of the European Union pertaining to the food safety area. The requirements of the EAEU technical regulations have been analysed taking into account that European exporting enterprises are first of all obliged to comply with the requirements of the listed EU regulatory and legal acts applicable to their production process and products. The aim of this paper was to run a comparative analysis on the mandatory requirements of the food legislation of the European and Customs Unions regarding fishery and aquaculture products, their production and sale. The issues of certification of certain product categories are analysed separately, the requirements for canned fish being highlighted. The analysis is relevant for all fish processing companies which may consider the possibility of starting export to the countries of the CU EAEU and are intended to reduce costs associated with products’ entry into these markets.

The Potential of Virgin Olive Oil from cv. Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki (Greece) to Bear Health Claims according to the European Legislation

The European food legislation authorizes the use of certain health claims based on a scientific basis. This study aimed to evaluate the fatty acid, tocopherol, and polar phenol composition of virgin olive oil (VOO) from cv. Chondrolia Chalkidikis and Chalkidiki regarding the fulfillment of official requirements for the health claims of ‘oleic acid’, ‘vitamin E’, and ‘olive oil polyphenols’. The examination of representative industrial VOOs from 15 olive mills of the Chalkidiki regional unit showed that the two cultivars yield oils contained the necessary concentrations of the responsible bioactive compounds. This evidence was further substantiated by a four harvest study whereby olives from different maturity stages were sampled from three olive groves. Oils were extracted at a laboratory scale and examined for their content in the above-mentioned three categories of constituents. Oils produced at industrial scale from olives harvested on the ‘technological optimum’ stage according to the olive grove proprietor were also analyzed. Extra virgin olive oil of the studied cultivars can safely bear the generic claims for ‘oleic acid’ and ‘vitamin E’. The cultivars present great potential regarding the total hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol content of the extracted oil required to attain the third health claim that may be influenced negatively by manufacturing practices.

Novel Food legislation and consumer acceptance - importance for the food industry

Novel foods are defined as food and food ingredients that have not been used to any significant extent in a particular country. This paper offers a brief overview of the current novel food legislation in European Union, Great Britain, USA, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and China. Prior to sale, food business operators (manufacturers or importers) are required, under different regulations and procedures, to submit information to Food Safety Authority about the product in question for a safety assessment. The approaches and specific information used to assess the safety of novel foods are outlined in national Guidelines. Generally, applicant should provide a detailed description of the novel food (identity of the novel food, production process, compositional data, proposed uses and use levels and anticipated intake of the novel food, history of use of the novel food and/or of its source, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, nutritional information, toxicological information and allergenicity) for the safety assessment and market approval of a novel food.

An Interview With Patti Rundall: A Passionate Activist, Full of Energy!

Since 1980, alongside IBFAN partners, Patti Rundall has worked to build collaborative networks that help countries bring in legally binding controls based on the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the United Nations World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolutions. Conflicts of interest and their impact on policymaking, research, education, and health systems has been a cross-cutting theme of her work, which has focused on the adoption and strengthening of the European Union’s baby food legislation and the improvement of Codex Global Trading Standards. With IBFAN, she helped countries adop many resolutions including WHA Resolution 49.15 https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/WHA49.15_iycn_en.pdf?ua=1 (1996) about conflicts of interest; she helped found and launch the Conflicts of Interest Coalition at the UN General Assembly. Patti is a founder of Baby Feeding Law Group (the alliance of 23 United Kingdom health professional and mother-support organizations), a member of the Infant Feeding in Emergencies core group and a leader in company campaigns (e.g., the Nestlé Boycott). She represented IBFAN on the European Commission’s Platform for Action on Diet and Physical Activity from 2007 until 2019. In the year 2000 she was awarded the title Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for her service to infant nutrition. (This is a verbatim interview: MA = Maryse Arendt; PR = Patti Rundall.)

La Salud y la regulación alimentaria europea: el nivel de riesgo tolerado

T. Boer & Zonen es una empresa neerlandesa productora de carne. Por violaciones de la normativa alimentaria europea, se le imponen sendas multas que, tras ser recurridas, culminan en una cuestión prejudicial del tribunal en cuestión ante Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea sobre si la refrigeración de los productos puede entenderse realizada dentro de los camiones frigoríficos (encontrándose estos en las dependencias del matadero), como pretende la empresa, o debemos atender a la literalidad de la norma y otros requisitos, que este proceso solo puede entenderse realizado en el sitio especificado como “matadero”. Por la propia naturaleza del bien jurídico y el elevado nivel de precaución y riesgo tolerable que ha asumido la Unión Europea, el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea falla en favor de la interpretación consonante con dichos principios y de manera desfavorable para la empresa. Boer & Zonen is a meat producing Dutch company. Due to breaches of the European food legislation, it is fined and, after the appeal process, culminates in a preliminary ruling from the appeals court to the Court of Justice of the European Union about whether it can be interpreted that the refrigeration process requirement was met if it was performed in the freezing trucks (being these located within the slaughterhouse), as the company pretends, or it must be understood as met only if it was performed as the literality of the rule expresses and also other requirements. Given the nature of the legally protected good and the elevated level of precaution and risk tolerance assumed by the European Union, the Court of Justice of the European Union rules in favor of the interpretation compatible with said standards and against the company.