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: 18 July 2007
Minutes for the meeting of the Committee at 10.30 on 18 July in Conference Room 5, Aviation House, Kingsway, London.
Present:
Professor Mike Gasson – Chairman
Ms Jill Brand
Dr Paul Brantom
Professor Ruth Chadwick
Mr Neville Craddock
Ms Jayam Dalal
Dr Peter Lund
Dr Clare Mills
Professor Peter Shewry
Professor John Warner
Apologies
Professor Harry Flint
Professor Gary Foster
Professor Stephen Holgate
Professor Alan Malcolm
Dr Anthony Williams
FSA Assessor
Dr Clair Baynton
FSA Observers
Mr Graham Dunn (External Affairs Team)
Ms Sarah Hardy (Food Allergy Team)
Mr Noel Griffin (Nutrition Strategy Team, Item 8)
Secretariat
Ms Alison Asquith
Ms Shuhana Begum
Dr Chris Jones
Dr Sandy Lawrie – ACNFP Secretary (Items 1-6, 8-11)
Dr Ana Miljkovic-Brake
Dr Trudy Netherwood (Items 1-5)
Ms Annie-Laure Robin
Ms Sandeep Virdee – Minutes
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
Five members had sent apologies for non-attendance and written comments from several of these were tabled at the meeting. Apologies were also received from the observers from FSA Scotland, FSA Northern Ireland and FSA Wales (Elspeth MacDonald, Gerry McCurdy and Phil Morgan)
The Chair noted that this would be the last meeting for Annie-Laure Robin who would be leaving the FSA. The Chair welcomed Sandeep Virdee who has joined the Secretariat.
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 82nd meeting DRAFT/ACNFP/82/MIN
Members agreed that, subject to one minor amendment being made, the minutes were a true record of the 82nd meeting of the ACNFP held on Wednesday 30 May 2007.
3. Matters Arising
The Secretariat provided the following update on items arising from the previous meeting:
ITEM 3: Beta-glucan rich extracts from Lentinus edodes (Shiitake mushroom)
The Secretariat was seeking more information on this from the applicant.
ITEM 4: Noni Puree and Concentrate
The FSA submitted comments to the European Commission on this novel food application on 4 June 2007, reflecting the points raised by Members.
ITEM 6: Glucosamine from Aspergillus niger
The draft opinion was circulated to Members for final comments before being published for a 10-day public consultation on 6 July. Two comments had been received and these were being evaluated by the Secretariat.
ITEMS 7 & 8: Refined Echium Oil & Baobab Dried Fruit Pulp
These two draft opinions were published for public comments on 11 June. Two comments were received, one on each product, but these raised mainly general points that did not require any changes to be made to the drafts. The two opinions were cleared by Chairman's action and were sent to the Commission on 12 July.
ITEM 12: Goji berries
The Food Standards Agency issued a statement on 18 June concluding that there was evidence of a history of consumption of goji berries in the UK prior to May 1997, in which case they were not a novel food.
4. Ice Structuring Protein from GM Yeast ACNFP/83/1
This application was discussed at the Committee’s meeting in May and the Secretariat had amended the draft opinion to reflect Members' conclusions. Also as requested by the Committee, the Secretariat had prepared an explanatory note on its assessment of this novel food ingredient.
The Committee discussed these documents and agreed the draft opinion and the explanatory note, subject to minor amendments. Overall the draft opinion was not changed and the overall conclusion was that the product is safe for consumption, but information should be provided to consumers on the yeast source and the GM fermentation process.
The Committee emphasised that information on the ingredient should be readily accessible and manufacturers should not rely solely on websites, noting that a significant proportion of households in the UK do not have Internet access. Members also recommended that the applicant should review the supporting information that they intended to provide, as the information currently available in other markets did not fully describe the product, for example in relation to residues of yeast by-products.
The Secretariat agreed to amend the draft opinion in light of the comments made by the Committee. The final text, subject to the Chairman's clearance, would be submitted to the European Commission as the basis for the UK's initial assessment report on this novel ingredient.
In the course of the discussion, Members drew attention to the different status of plant products and fermentation products under GM food and feed legislation (regulation (EC) 1829/2003). This regulation applies to refined products extracted from GM plants, such antioxidants derived from vegetable oil, but it does not apply to partially-refined products manufactured by fermentation of GM microorganisms (except in cases where the intact GM microorganisms was present in the final product).
5. Phosphated Distarch Phosphate (PDP) ACNFP/83/2
This application was discussed by the ACNFP in September and November 2005 when the ACNFP had requested additional information on this ingredient. The Committee considered the applicant’s response and discussed whether this answered their earlier concerns and provided sufficient information to conclude the evaluation of this novel food ingredient.
The Committee reiterated its earlier concern over potential gastrointestinal intolerance in children. The results of a new fermentability study had been provided but Members considered that it was not possible to extrapolate from the available data to the situation in young children, whose gut flora is developing and does not have an adult composition. It is known that children are more sensitive than adults to the laxative effects of other poorly absorbed ingredients e.g. polyols, and the Committee could not be certain that PDP will be tolerated to the same extent by children as by adults. PDP was being proposed for use in a wide range of different food types and, in the event that it did result in GI symptoms such as diarrhoea in young children, it may be difficult for parents or clinicians to make a link between consumption of the ingredient and the onset of symptoms.
The Committee welcomed the new information provided by the applicant concerning the glycemic response to PDP, but noted the theoretical possibility that insulin-dependent diabetics might suffer hypoglycemia if their insulin dose was calculated on the basis of the glucose content of a meal that included the ingredient. Members also noted the applicant's revised proposal for naming the ingredient, but questioned whether this was consistent with general food labelling regulations that require an ingredient to be identified using its legal name, where one has already been agreed.
6. Astaxanthin rich oleoresin from Haematococcus pluvialis algae ACNFP/83/4
The Committee was asked to consider an opinion on the equivalence of the applicant's astaxanthin-rich extract obtained from H. pluvialis algae using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction technology compared with an existing Astaxanthin-rich extract from the same source.
Overall the Committee had no objections on this application but pointed out that any additives, such as antioxidants, that are used in the formulation of the product should comply with EU legislation. The Secretariat agreed to prepare a formal draft opinion for consideration by the Committee at the next meeting.
7. Kiwiberry Concentrate ACNFP/83/5
The Committee was asked to consider this new full application for a water extracted concentrate of dried hardy kiwi fruit (Actinidia arguta). Hardy kiwi is in the same genus as the familiar green kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa), but is smaller with a fuzzless skin. The applicant proposed to market their kiwiberry concentrate, including a powdered form, for incorporation into a range of food products such as beverages, cereals and cereal products, milk and milk products, sugars, preserves and confectionary, and savoury snacks.
The Committee agreed that, based on the information provided by the applicant, there were no toxicity or nutritional concerns over this novel ingredient. Members highlighted the key issue to be allergenicity, given that allergy to green kiwi fruit is of increasing concern in the UK and across Europe.
In this regard the Committee noted that the applicant had provided data from a study which indicated that a small proportion of people with allergy to green kiwi may also react to the novel ingredient. This was a small study on only 12 subjects and it was not possible to make a confident estimate of the true incidence of cross-reactivity. On the basis that people with existing kiwi allergy would be advised to avoid the novel ingredient, the Committee was concerned that it was being proposed for use in a very broad range of food categories, and that this could result in a significant reduction in the foods that could safely be consumed by people with kiwi allergy. As many of these foods would not currently be expected to contain kiwi products, there was a significant risk that allergic individuals would not check the ingredient lists and would suffer reactions as a result of accidental consumption of the kiwiberry concentrate.
The Members therefore requested further information from the applicant on the likely product range, the current sales of the novel ingredient and hardy kiwi fruit outside the EU, and what steps the company were taking to ensure that the product was not consumed by individuals with existing kiwi allergy.
The Secretariat agreed to seek further information from the applicant on these points.
8. Nutrition and Health Claims ACNFP/83/6
The Committee had previously asked about controls on nutrition and health claims that might be made for novel foods and novel ingredients, as the assessment of such claims is not part of the evaluation and authorisation procedures set out in the novel foods regulation (EC regulation 258/97).
Mr Noel Griffin from the Agency’s Fortification and Claims Unit gave an overview of the legislation governing nutrition and health claims, which applies to all foods including novel foods. The EC Regulation on nutrition and health claims came into force on 19 January and applies from 1 July 2007. The Agency recently completed a consultation on the enforcement measures that would implement this Regulation in the UK, together with guidelines to compliance and a regulatory impact assessment. The Agency expected that the enforcement measures would be in place in the autumn and would publish its final guidance to compliance as soon as possible.
The Agency was also assembling a national list of generally accepted claims to be submitted for consideration by EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority). A list of EU approved claims was expected to be in place by 31 January 2010. Until that time, claims would remain subject to general food labelling legislation that prohibits claims that are untrue or otherwise misleading to the consumer.
The Committee noted the presentation.
9. Open Meetings (oral update)
This was discussed in the May meeting where the Committee agreed to hold an open meeting on general topics of interest to the public. The Secretariat is finalising details of the meeting to be held in November and will circulate further information when the venue is confirmed.
10. Items for Information
10.1 EU Update ACNFP/83/8
10.2 EFSA Statement on MON863 Maize and Addendum ACNFP/83/9
The Secretariat tabled an addendum to ACNFP/83/9, containing a document produced in response to EFSA's statement by the organisation CRIIGEN. The Committee noted these papers without comment.
11. Any Other Business
The Secretariat informed the Committee that an advertisement for new members to the ACNFP would appear in The Guardian and Nature the following week.
The Committee were asked by the Secretariat to confirm their availability for the ACNFP meetings to be held next year.
Jayam Dalal had attended a Consumer Representative training event, organised jointly by the FSA and Foodaware, on 21 June and agreed to forward papers from the event to the Secretariat for circulation to other members.
12. Date of next meeting
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday 20 September in Aviation House.