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:22 March 2007
minutes for the meeting of the Committee at 10.30am on 22 March 2007, in conference room 5 Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London
Present:
Professor Mike Gasson – Chairman
Ms Jill Brand
Dr Paul Brantom
Professor Ruth Chadwick
Mr Neville Craddock
Ms Jayam Dalal
Professor Harry Flint
Professor Stephen Holgate
Professor Peter Lund
Professor Alan Malcolm
Dr Claire Mills
Professor Ian Rowland
Professor Peter Shewry
Dr Anthony Williams
Observers Ms Hilary Neathey (FSA Wales)
Ms Alison Black (FSA Wales)
Dr Louise Ball (Defra, Items 1-4)
Secretariat Ms Alison Asquith – Minutes
Ms Azuka Aghadiuno
Ms Shuhana Begum
Dr Chris Jones
Dr Sandy Lawrie – ACNFP Secretary
Mrs Kate May
Ms Annie-Laure Robin
Ms Tamara Sims
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
Apologies were received from Professors Gary Foster and John Warner. Apologies were also received from the FSA Assessor (Dr Clair Baynton) and observers from FSA Scotland and FSA Northern Ireland (Mrs Elspeth MacDonald and Mr Gerry McCurdy)
The Chairman welcomed Jayam Dalal who had joined the Committee following the retirement of Hilary Close, and Claire Mills who was attending the Committee for the first time. The Chairman noted that Ian Rowland's membership would end on 1 April and thanked him for his valuable contributions during his time on the Committee, both as an ACNFP member and latterly as a cross-member with the Committee on Toxicity.
The Chair welcomed observers from FSA Wales and DEFRA.
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 80th meeting DRAFT/ACNFP/80/Min
Members agreed that, subject to a minor amendment being made, the minutes were a true record of the 80th meeting of the ACNFP held on Thursday 17January 2007
3. Matters Arising
The Secretariat provided the following update on items arising from the previous meeting:
Judicial Review (Item 1)
The hearing mentioned by Dr Baynton took place on 20-21 February and the judgement was issued in court the following day. The Court dismissed the Friends of the Earth's complaint against the Agency, regarding the application of EU law in handling the issue of contamination of US long grain rice with an unauthorised GM rice variety.
Glucosamine (Item 6)
The applicant (Cargill) had been informed of the Committee's concerns about the effect of glucosamine on diabetics and was looking further into this point. The Secretariat had agreed that the Committee's consideration of a draft opinion should be deferred while the applicant completes its review.
Synthetic lycopene (Item 8)
The FSA had submitted comments to the European Commission on this novel food application, reflecting the points raised by members
Phytosterols from Lipofoods & Astaxanthin rich oleoresin obtained from algae (Items 9 &10)
The two draft opinions were published for public comment and no responses were received. The applicants had therefore been notified that their products can be considered substantially equivalent to their existing counterparts, and that they must inform the European Commission when their products are first placed on the market. The Committee's final opinions were published on the website.
Feedback from the annual meeting of advisory committee Chairs (Item 12)
The Food Standards Agency Board agreed in February to proceed with the establishment of an overarching scientific committee, to be called the "General Advisory Committee on Science". It was intended that the Chair and members should be appointed and the first meeting held by the end of the year.
The Agency had recently finalised and published its "Good Practice Guidelines for the Independent Scientific Advisory Committees". Copies were to be circulated to Members after the meeting.
4. Transformation-induced mutations in transgenic plants ACNFP/81/1
The Committee was asked to consider a recent, peer-reviewed review of mutations induced by GM transformation techniques, and to advise what implication, if any, this analysis has for the current approach to the risk assessment of foods derived from GM crops.
The Committee agreed that this was a useful review of the available literature and accepted that GM plants will contain unintended genetic changes. However, the Committee considered that this possibility was recognised and addressed in the current EU approach to the assessment of GM foods. The Committee noted that random genetic changes also occur in plants that have not undergone genetic modification and did not agree with the review authors' assumption that any unintended change to plant DNA equates to a risk to consumers.
The Secretariat agreed to draft a letter to be sent to the review authors giving the Committee's views.
5. Krill Oil ACNFP/81/2
The Committee was asked to consider a positive initial opinion from the Finnish Competent Authority (CA) on an application submitted by Neptune Technologies and Bioressources Inc., for the authorisation of Antarctic krill oil as a novel food ingredient. The oil was intended to be used as a source of omega-3 fatty acids in a number of food categories including yoghurt, milk drinks, juices and protein bars and as a food supplement.
Although it recognised that environmental factors are not among the criteria for acceptance of novel ingredients listed in the novel foods regulation (EC) 258/97, the Committee was concerned about the possible environmental impact on harvesting krill from the Antarctic in order to produce the novel ingredient.
The Finnish CA referred to requirements under the food hygiene regulation (EC) 852/2004. The Committee pointed out that regulation 853/2004 (as amended by regulation 1662/2006) should also be quoted.
The Committee considered that allergen labelling should refer to shellfish in general rather than crustaceans, as there was considerable overlap between allergens in molluscs and crustaceans. The Committee also recommended an assessment of the level of allergenic proteins in the oil (e.g. tropomycin) in order to assess the potential risk to children, who do not normally consume crustaceans but who might be consumer of products containing the novel oil.
The Committee also considered that the labelling should make it clear that the oil was from an animal source, as vegetarians would not expect food categories including yoghurt and milk drinks to include fish products.
The Committee questioned the recommended maximum daily intake levels, which were different for supplements and fortified foods. The Committee considered that products containing the oil would be attractive to parents as a source of omega-3 fatty acids and intake by children should also be assessed.
The Committee considered that the justification for the relative lack of toxicological data was weak as the history of previous consumption of the oil, as a component of krill, was limited.
The Secretariat agreed to reflect these points in the UK's response to the European Commission.
6. Ice Structuring Protein from GM Yeast ACNFP/81/3
Prior to the discussion of this item, Professor Ian Rowland notified the Committee that his research department was carrying out some research for the applicant, but this is not related to the subject of this application. The Committee agreed this was an indirect interest and he should remain for the discussion of this item.
The Committee discussed this novel food ingredient at its meetings in July, September and January and, as its questions and concerns had been addressed by the applicant, was asked to consider a draft initial opinion.
The Committee recognised that legislation on GM foods did not apply to this type of product. The opinion of the European Commission and Member States that fermentation. Nevertheless recommended that the applicant should provide information to consumers about the manufacturing process, either through information provided on food packaging or other routes. Although other similar fermentation products were not currently highlighted in this way, there was substantial consumer interest in foods produced using GM technology and some aspects of the novel ingredient made it a special case, such as the use of a synthetic gene sequence and the presence of a significant proportion of cellular by-products.
The Committee agreed that the draft opinion should be issued for public comment, subject to the incorporation of this point and other minor amendments.
7. Refined Echium Oil ACNFP/81/4
The Committee considered additional information provided by the applicant in response to the questions on this application that were raised at the previous meeting. These concerned the method used to carry out protein analysis on of the novel ingredient and its nutritional implications.
The Committee were satisfied with the protein analysis method, which showed low protein levels and were satisfied with the additional information provided about the nutritional implications.
The Secretariat agreed to draw up a draft opinion for discussion at the May meeting.
8. Baobab fruit pulp ACNFP/81/5
Prior to the discussion of this item Neville Craddock notified the Committee that he had a non personal indirect interest as he previously drafted a report for the UN Commission on Trade and Development to look at the role of EU Novel Food Regulations in relation to traditional crops, using Baobab as an example. The Committee considered his interest and agreed he could remain in the meeting.
At the January meeting the Committee had been generally satisfied with the application dossier but requested additional information from the applicant regarding harvesting procedures, the possible presence of mycotoxins and the extent of yeast and mould contamination. The Committee considered additional information provided by the applicant on these points.
The Committee were reassured with information regarding the harvesting, storage and transport procedures that would be employed. The Committee sought clarification on certain discrepancies between the new data and the information in the original dossier.
The Secretariat agreed to contact the applicant seeking clarification on apparent discrepancies in the data and to draw up an opinion for discussion at the Committee's May meeting.
9. Beta-glucan-rich extracts from Lentinus edodes ACNFP/81/6
Prior to the discussion, Neville Craddock notified the Committee that he had an indirect interest in this item as he was working with a company on a potential competitor product. The Committee agreed he should remain for the discussion of this item.
The Committee considered further information supplied by the applicant in relation to this request for an opinion on the equivalence of this novel ingredient, an extract from the mycelium of shiitake mushroom, with its existing counterpart, which is extracted from the fruiting bodies.
The Committee requested more detailed information on the composition of the two products, as the available information was provided only in summary form and no statistical analysis had been carried out. The Committee also sought further evidence to support the argument that the same proteins are present in the mycelial extract and the fruiting bodies.
The Secretariat agreed to contact the applicant seeking further information.
10. Items for Information
10.1 EU update ACNFP/81/7
10.2 ACNFP Annual Report 2006
The Secretariat informed the Committee that it would introduce the draft Annual Report 2006 for discussion at the May meeting.
11. Date of next meeting
The next meeting was scheduled for the end of May, in Aviation House and the precise date would be confirmed in writing. [Note: this was subsequently set as Wednesday 30 May.]