ACNFP
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON NOVEL FOODS AND PROCESSES
ACNFP Secretariat
Food Standards Agency
Room 515b Aviation House
125 Kingsway
London WC2B 6NH
Tel: +44 (0)20 7276 8595
Fax: +44 (0)20 7276 8564
acnfp@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
ACNFP Minutes 24 July 2008
Notes for the meeting of the Committee at 10.30am on 24 July in Conference rooms 3 and 4 Aviation House, Kingsway, London
Present:
Professor Mike Gasson – Chairman
Professor Michael Bushell
Professor Andrew Chesson
Ms Jayam Dalal
Dr Paul Haggarty
Professor Stephen Holgate
Dr Clare Mills
Professor Christopher Ritson
Professor Peter Shewry
Apologies: Dr Paul Brantom
Professor Gary Foster
Professor John Mathers
Mrs Gillian Pope
Mr Kevin Swoffer
Professor John Warner
Professor Harry Flint
FSA Assessor: Dr Clair Baynton
FSA Observer: Dave Jefferies (Item 9)
Simon Wolfe-Coote (Item 11)
Secretariat: Ms Alison Asquith - Minutes
Ms Fadeke Afolabi
Ms Shuhana Begum
Dr Chris Jones
Dr Sandy Lawrie - ACNFP Secretary
Dr Manisha Upadhyay
Members are required to declare any personal interest in matters under discussion. Where Members have a particularly close association with any item, the Chairman will limit their involvement in the discussion. In cases where an item is to be discussed in their absence, a Member may make a statement before leaving.
1. Apologies and announcements
Seven members had sent apologies for non-attendance. Apologies were also received from observers from FSA Scotland, FSA Wales and Northern Ireland (Mrs Elspeth MacDonald, Mr Phil Morgan and Mr Gerry McCurdy).
The Chairman welcomed Fadeke Afolabi who has joined the Secretariat temporarily as an Executive Officer.
The Chairman reminded Members of the need to announce any commercial interests in the business of the Committee, prior to the discussions on each item.
2. Minutes of the 88th meeting DRAFT/ACNFP/88/Min
Subject to one amendment being made, Members agreed that the minutes were a true record of the 88th meeting of the ACNFP held on Wednesday 4 June.
3. Matters Arising and Postal Consultations
The Secretariat provided the following update on items arising from the previous meeting.
ITEM 5: DHA Rich Algal Oil
The Committee was content with the various amendments to the draft opinion that Members had proposed during a postal consultation. The Secretariat agreed to circulate the revised opinion for clearance by members not present at the meeting and to submit the final opinion to the European Commission.
Action: Secretariat
Postal consultation: Beta-glucan-rich extract from Lentinus edodes ACNFP/89/P1
The Committee had been satisfied that the secondary metabolites were not a safety concern for the beta-glucan extract. Secondary metabolites can be produced by fungi in submerged culture, but this requires a degree of physiological differentiation that was unlikely to be achieved under the process conditions. The Committee noted that there is a history of consumption of the fruiting body of L.edodes, the most differentiated form of the fungus, where secondary metabolites were most likely to be found.
Members noted that clinical studies were not necessary for the risk assessment of this novel ingredient and that the human trial data provided by the applicant were of limited value.
The Secretariat agreed to draw up a draft opinion for the Committee's consideration at the next meeting.
Action: Secretariat
4. Phosphated Distarch Phosphate ACNFP/89/1
The Committee previously considered this application on a number of occasions between 2005 and 2007. The Committee was asked to give a preliminary view on a response received from the applicant following a second consultation on the Committee's draft opinion.
The Committee accepted that the novel ingredient contains similar levels of phosphate to wholemeal flour but noted that the company was proposing to add the novel ingredient to a range of products containing white flour, which contains only a third of the phosphorus. The Committee considered that consumers who need to control their phosphorus intake, due to reduced kidney function, may be misled if the ingredient was not labelled descriptively. The Committee therefore agreed to retain the recommendation that the novel ingredient should be labeled to include reference to phosphorus.
The Committee considered the studies provided by the applicant in support of their argument that there was little evidence that there was a difference between gut microflora in the children and adults. The Committee noted however that these studies had examined responses to prebiotic substances and advised that there was a large body of evidence in the scientific literature showing that the gut microflora in children differ significantly from those in adults.
Given that the applicant's comments were only received shortly before the meeting, members were invited to submit any further comments to the Secretariat after the meeting.
5. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)- Rich Oil ACNFP/89/2
The Committee considered the Irish Competent Authority’s initial opinion on this application for authorisation of CLA- rich oil derived from safflower seed as a novel food ingredient.
The Committee was concerned that the ingredient was to be added to a wide range of foods and consumers might exceed the expected level of intake. Members disagreed with the applicant's suggestion that high levels of intake were unlikely to be maintained over a long period of time, noting that slimming products are likely to be consumed over long periods.
The Committee was concerned that the applicant was dismissive of the fairly extensive evidence of oxidative stress, and that the stability of the oil had not been examined in different food matrices. It also considered that consumption of this ingredient would have a significant effect on the population intake on n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, contrary to the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy’s recommendations that there should be no further increase in average intakes of this type of fatty acid.
The Committee noted that the novel ingredient would be added to a range of foods including milk and milk products. The Committee considered there was a need to take account of groups who consume above-average amounts of dairy products for example for religious reasons.
The Committee advised that the results of animal feeding studies should be considered in more depth, and did not accept the applicant's argument that these data were of limited relevance due to inter-species differences in fat metabolism.
The Secretariat agreed to respond to the European Commission.
Action: Secretariat.
6. Lycopene ACNFP/89/3
The Committee was asked to comment on the conclusions of three recent EFSA opinions regarding lycopene. The first concerned the use of lycopene as for use as a food colour and established an Acceptable Daily Intake for lycopene from all sources. The other two opinions were for novel food applications – synthetic lycopene and lycopene rich oleoresin from tomatoes.
The Committee advised that it was not necessary to re-examine its previous advice on the various lycopene preparations that were proposed as novel food ingredients, and that any authorisation of these preparations should ensure that the ADI was not exceeded. Based on the available information, the Committee was concerned about the possibility that the ADI could be significantly exceeded, particularly by children who might consume a range of products containing tomatoes or added lycopene.
7. Touchi (Black Bean) Extract ACNFP/89/4
The Committee was asked to consider this application, which has been submitted to the UK Competent Authority, for the approval of touchi (fermented black bean) extract as a novel food ingredient.
The Committee was concerned that the application was not sufficiently clear to determine how the novel ingredient was to be used and sought further clarification. It questioned whether the novel ingredient could be compared with existing black bean products because the manufacturing process includes high temperature processing that might generate additional degradation products.
The Committee noted that the fermentation process used in the manufacture of fermented black bean was not described in sufficient detail and requested further information on the fermentation conditions. The Committee also questioned the description of the product as a "nutritional support" and asked for additional information on mechanisms for communication of adverse effects.
The Secretariat agreed to obtain further information on these points for discussion at the next committee meeting.
Although claims are not assessed as part of the novel food evaluation, the Committee noted that the proposed mechanism for an effect of the novel ingredient on body weight was unlikely.
Action: Secretariat
8. EFSA Guidelines on the Risk Assessment of GMOs ACNFP/89/5
The Committee was asked to consider EFSA’s updated guidelines for the assessment of GM plants. The guidelines are intended to clarify the data requirements but do not change the fundamental approach to the risk assessment, which continues to be based on comparison between the GM plant and existing (non-GM) comparators.
The Committee noted that risk assessments may be unnecessarily complicated as they require a full range of compositional data for GM plants that contained only minor genetic changes. Also, it was notable that more information was required for GM foods than for other novel products.
The Secretariat requested Members make any additional comments by 1 September.
Action: Secretariat
9. G03 Mid Term Review and Future Research ACNFP/89/6
The Committee was asked to consider the background information provided regarding the research projects previously commissioned under the Agency's G03 research programme and to suggest any further areas that should be addressed within the programme.
The Committee suggested the following areas of work for consideration as possible research topics:
- Nanotechnology – particularly in relation to delivery systems and uptake of nanoparticles in the gastrointestinal tract.
- Synthetic biology
- Effects of novel ingredients on gastrointestinal physiology and microflora
- Genetic differences in responses to novel ingredients
- Consumer behaviour in relation to the consumption of novel foods, including co-consumption of functional ingredients in foods and supplements
- Consumer perceptions in relation to GM labelling
- Developing an ADI approach for micro-organisms
- A review of the application of previous FSA-funded research to safety assessment procedures
- The need for updated risk assessment procedures for traits that could be introduced in future GM crops
- Transgene survival and gene transfer to humans or human gut flora
The Secretariat agreed to pass the Committee's suggestions on to the FSA.
Action: Secretariat
10. Items for Information
- 10.1 EU update ACNFP/89/7
- 10.2 Update on other Scientific Advisory Committees ACNFP/89/8
11 Any other business
Simon Wolfe-Coote from the FSA's IT Division gave a presentation on the possible uses of an Extranet set up by the Agency. The Committee considered that the Extranet would be useful as a document storage and retrieval system and volunteered to take part in a pilot.
12 Date of next meeting
The next meeting was scheduled to be held on 16 September 2008