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the status of the noni plant as a novel food ingredient has been boosted with the manufacturer, tahitian noni, last week receiving its third european union novel food approval for the puree and concentrate forms of the fruit. the company, which makes and markets products based on the tropically-sourced morinda citrifolia or noni plant including beverages, beauty, and weight loss lines, has already received approval for its noni juice and its noni leaves under the bloc’s novel foods regulation.

the european food safety authority recently turned in its first health claim verdicts, rejecting eight of nine. european food regulations expert lorène courrège explains why efsa’s tough health claim approach may stifle product innovation. by setting an unworkably high standard for claims substantiation, efsa is threatening r&d not to mention health claims that have long been officially approved in many jurisdictions.

the eu's food industry association is calling for a raft of changes to proposed laws, calling some of them unworkable and misleading, including those that would regulate additives and enzymes, flavourings, additives, chemicals and health claims. the eu has been in the process of placing the food industry under increasing regulatory control, mainly due to public concerns about safety, quality and the amount of information it receives about the products they eat.

imperfect as they may be, the european union’s regulatory efforts in the food area have attracted the attention of regulators around the world, some of whom view what is being done in the bloc as a legislative template. in food and food supplements, like most areas of the eu legislative process, there has been a huge amount of ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ as regulators have attempted to account for the divergent interests of 27 member states plus trade, consumer and government interest groups.

marks & spencer's commitment to remove all hydrogenated fats from its entire food range by mid 2006 suggests that awareness of trans fats has now fully hit europe. the firm is the first major retailer in the uk to place a blanket ban on hydrogenated fats, and could set in place a trend that snowballs, with consumer choice increasingly informed by health and nutritional knowledge.

high consumer awareness of the benefits of green tea and a growing market for functional green tea products means health claim substantiation is not essential, says a german green tea extract supplier. the recent set of negative opinions from the european food safety authority (efsa) on 13.1 claims were seen as a massive blow to the european and international functional foods and nutraceutical industries, especially the herbal antioxidant and probiotic sectors, which have yet to see a positive efsa opinion.

the european food safety authority has published its first series of opinions on the list of ‘general function’ health claims compiled by member states and the european commission, finding that two-thirds were currently unsubstantiated. experts on efsa’s panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies (nda) evaluated the scientific evidence for more than 500 claims, with the opinions to help inform future decisions of the european commission and member states concerning the authorisation of health claims.

changes to the european novel food regulation could bring the waiting time for approval down from around three years to just one, according to european advisory service. the european commission's revision of the rule is aimed at simplifying the process and fostering industry innovation in the eu, a food is judged to be novel if it was not eaten in a significant quantity in europe before may 1997.

the advent of new european legislation on genetically modified organisms - applicable as of last week - will hit all players in the food industry. in a bid to render the new rules clearer we have decided to take the step to publish an outline of the legislation as presented by the european commission this week. what is the eu regulatory framework for gmo authorisation? genetically modified organisms (gmos) and genetically modified micro-organisms (gmms) can be defined as organisms (and micro-organisms) in which the genetic material (dna) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination.