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: 30 May 2007
Minutes fo the meeting of the Committee at 10.30am on 30 May in Conference Room 3 in Aviation House, Kingsway, London
Present:
Professor Mike Gasson – Chairman
Dr Paul Brantom
Mr Neville Craddock
Ms Jayam Dalal
Professor Alan Malcolm
Professor John Warner
Apologies
Ms Jill Brand
Professor Ruth Chadwick
Professor Harry Flint
Professor Gary Foster
Professor Stephen Holgate
Dr Peter Lund
Dr Clare Mills
Professor Peter Shewry
Dr Anthony Williams
Observer
Ms Julie Schroff (COT)
Secretariat
Ms Alison Asquith – Minutes
Ms Shuhana Begum
Dr David Jefferies (Items 1 – 6)
Dr Chris Jones
Ms Kate May (Items 1-6)
Dr Sandy Lawrie – ACNFP Secretary
Dr Ana Miljkovic-Brake
Dr Trudy Netherwood (Items 1-5)
Ms Karen Pratt (Items 1-5)
Ms Annie-Laure Robin
Ms Nicola Walker (Items 1-6)
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
A numbers of 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 (Mrs Elspeth MacDonald, Mr Gerry McCurdy Mr Phil Morgan)
The Chair welcomed Dr Ana Miljkovic-Brake, who has joined the Secretariat as a Senior Scientific Officer and Mrs Julie Schroff an observer from the Secretariat of the Committee for Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment.
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 81st meeting DRAFT/ACNFP/81/Min
Members agreed that, subject to minor amendments being made, the minutes were a true record of the 81st meeting of the ACNFP held on Thursday 22 March 2007
3. Matters Arising
The Secretariat provided the following update on one item arising from the previous meeting:
Item 9: Beta-Glucan rich extracts from Lentinus edodes (Shiitake mushroom)
The Secretariat had received a response from the applicant to the issues raised and was requesting additional clarification on a number of points. Once this was received the Secretariat would seek the views of Members by post, and would draft an opinion for consideration at the July meeting.
4. Noni Puree and Concentrate ACNFP/82/1
The Committee was asked to consider a positive initial opinion from the Belgian Competent Authority on an application submitted by Tahitian Noni International Inc, for the authorisation of noni fruit puree and concentrate as a novel ingredient in a number of food categories.
Dr Paul Brantom declared an interest as his previous employer was involved in the original safety trials when the original applicant sought clearance for this noni puree to be used as an ingredient in pasteurised fruit drinks in 2000. The Committee agreed that he should remain for the discussion of this item.
The Committee considered that, by body weight, the highest consumers of many of the products will potentially be young children as the applicant proposes to add noni ingredients to products such as jellies, yoghurts, ice-creams which children may also consume. The Committee considered that the risk assessment could not be completed without an estimate of the intake of the ingredients by children. The Committee noted that the information provided by the applicant regarding likely intake levels was based on US consumption and does not necessarily reflect consumption in the EU.
The Committee also pointed out that the EFSA Panel’s conclusion that consumption of noni juice at the observed levels of consumption is unlikely to induce adverse human liver effects, was based on the consumption of noni juice at the current observed levels of intake. However, as the noni puree and concentrate will be available in a wide range of foods, the intake levels could be considerably higher.The Secretariat agreed to reflect these points in the UK's response to the European Commission.
5. Ice Structuring Protein from GM Yeast ACNFP/82/2
This application was discussed at the Committee’s meetings in July, September and January and the Committee finalised their draft initial opinion on Unilever’s ice structuring protein (ISP) preparation at the last meeting in March. The draft opinion was published for public consultation in April and a total of 21 responses were received from various individuals and organisations, including the applicant. The comments related to safety, consumers with fish allergy, suitability for vegetarians and labelling. The Committee was asked to consider these responses and to finalise the text of the opinion.
Due to the large number of comments received from members of the public, the Committee decided that an explanatory note should be prepared in layman terms to accompany the Committee's formal opinion on the novel food application. The Committee agreed a number of modifications to the text of its opinion and did not change its overall opinion that the product meets the criteria for acceptance of a novel food ingredient. The Committee confirmed that information indicating the use of genetic modification and yeast should be provided to the consumers and recommended that this would best be achieved through labelling. Finally, the Committee considered that the ingredient is suitable for vegetarians as the protein is not derived from a fish product but is a synthetic version of a protein found in fish.
The Secretariat agreed to amend the draft opinion in light of the comments made by the Committee and to prepare an explanatory note on its assessment of this novel food ingredient. It was agreed to discuss these documents at the next meeting in July.
6. Glucosamine from Aspergillus niger ACNFP/82/3
Neville Craddock notified the Committee of a personal interest as he has had contact, since September, with the applicant regarding a different version of glucosamine. The Committee agreed that he should remain for the discussion of this item.
The Committee was invited to consider the text of the draft opinion for the authorisation of this novel food, prior to issuing it for public consultation. This application had previously been discussed at the Committee’s meetings in September and January and following the January meeting Members indicated that an opinion should be drafted reflecting their concerns regarding the possible effects of the novel ingredient by individuals with diabetes. Members were also concerned that the applicant’s claim that the product was free from protein, and therefore not allergenic, was not supported by the appropriate analytical studies.
The applicant had sought to respond to the Committee’s concerns by providing additional Mass Spectrometry data showing that the product was free from significant levels of protein. The applicant also requested that the Committee consider an expert review of relevant scientific data concerning the possible effect of consumption of glucosamine by individuals with diabetes.
The Committee agreed that the additional protein analysis indicated that the product would be unlikely to give rise to an allergenic response.
The Committee considered that the expert review did not counter their earlier concerns regarding the potential of the novel ingredient to alter glucose metabolism, which would be of concern to individuals with diabetes. Members noted that glucosamine is currently sold in the UK in the form of dietary supplements, but any possible effect in diabetics would be of greater concern if it was being added as an ingredient to a range of foods since adverse reactions were more likely to be picked up by clinicians if the glucosamine was being consumed as a food supplement.
The Committee considered the text of the draft opinion and the Secretariat agreed to circulate the amended draft opinion by post for the Committee's final comments, prior to publication on the ACNFP website for a 10-day public consultation.
7. Refined Echium Oil ACNFP/82/4
The Committee considered the text of the draft opinion on this application for refined echium oil as a novel food ingredient, before it is issued for public comment. The Committee had discussed this ingredient at its meetings in September, January and March and were satisfied with the applicant’s response to their questions and concerns regarding protein levels and the marketing of the product as an alternative (non-fish) source of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
The Committee confirmed that subject to two textual changes they were content with the text of the draft opinion.
The Secretariat would arrange for the draft opinion to be published on the ACNFP website for a 10-day public consultation.
8. Baobab fruit pulp ACNFP/82/5
The Committee considered the text of the draft opinion on this application for the authorisation of this novel food ingredient. Members also considered the applicant’s response to questions raised at the previous meeting about relatively high levels of acid insoluble ash reported in one of the samples of the fruit pulp. Members accepted the applicant’s explanation that the level of the ash in this sample was a spurious result. Members also requested a number of minor amendments to the draft opinion and the addition of a section to cover the proposed labelling of the ingredient.
The Secretariat agreed to clear the revised text with the Chairman and to arrange for the draft opinion to be published on the ACNFP website for a 10-day public consultation.
9. Good Practice Guidelines for Scientific Committees ACNFP/82/6
The Committee was updated on various issues regarding the operation of the Agency’s Scientific Committees.
The Committee was informed that the Agency would shortly be publishing the Good Practice Guidelines that were drawn up at the end of 2006. It was intended that each Committee should review these guidelines on an annual basis. The Committee was asked if any aspect of the operation of the ACNFP should be revised in order to ensure a high level of compliance with the Guidelines.
The Committee was satisfied that they already adhere to the guidelines and no revisions were suggested.
The Committee was asked to note that the Agency is exploring how it might improve the openness of Committee meetings. The Secretariat would investigate the practicalities of the Committee routinely holding open meetings but noted that restrictions associated with the EU authorisation procedures for novel and GM foods limited the ability to discuss current applications for authorisation in public. The Committee agreed to hold an open meeting on general topics of interest to the public.
The Committee will discuss the organisation of the open meeting at its July meeting.
10. ACNFP Annual Report 2006 ACNFP/82/7
The Committee was invited to provide substantive comments on the draft copy of the 2006 ACNFP Annual Report. The Report is a formal record of the Committee’s work during the year, all of which is already in the public domain.
The Committee made no substantive comments on the draft Annual Report.
The Committee was invited to consider any minor drafting points and forward them to the Secretariat.
11. Items for Information
11.1 EU update ACNFP/82/8
11.2 Update on Novel Food and Feed Applications ACNFP/82/9
11.3 Update on Novel Food Notifications ACNFP/82/10
11.4 EFSA Statement on Antibiotic Resistance Marker Gene ACNFP/82/11N pt II
11.5 Transformation-Induced Mutations in Transgenic Plants ACNFP/82/12
12. Any Other Business
Kiwi Berries
The Committee was advised of a new the application for this novel food ingredient. The views of the Committee will be sought at the next meeting in July.
Goji Berries
A public consultation had been held by the Food Standards Agency to determine the historical evidence of consumption of goji berries in the European Union. This consultation had generated a large number of responses and the Secretariat informed the Committee that the Agency's response would be issued shortly.
11. Date of next meeting
The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 18 July in Aviation House