Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle

Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. I would like to thank CIAA for inviting the European Food Safety Authority to participate in this conference addressing what is certainly today our most important public health challenge with respect to food: nutrition, diet and lifestyle.

Food safety was the primary impetus for the creation of EFSA with crises related to BSE, dioxins and other food scares requiring independent scientific advice at EU level. Whilst we must remain vigilant concerning risks associated with the food chain, today the major public health concerns for which we must find solutions are those relating to diet, nutrition and lifestyle and their relationship to health and quality of life. Diet and lifestyle are major determinants of health in Europe. There is a substantial amount of scientific knowledge outlining the relation of diet and lifestyle to chronic diseases and conditions such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer and osteoporosis. EFSA is uniquely placed to contribute to the development at EU level, of scientific evidence-based policies, measures, information and communications with respect to the relation between food, diet and health.

EFSA has already provided scientific advice on nutritional matters since the establishment of its Panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies in 2003.

We have delivered to date more than 60 scientific opinions and statements in this area, including advice related to the dietary intakes and health effects of such key nutrients as trans fatty acids and sodium. Indeed the Panel will review dietary recommendations for nutrients including sodium and trans fatty acids as part of its mandate for setting nutrient recommendations for the European Union.

The NDA Panel has also completed important work related to the setting of tolerable upper levels of intakes for vitamins and minerals, continuing on from the previous work carried out in this area by the Scientific Committee for Food. Overall 35 opinions have been adopted. Based on EFSA’s advice the European Commission will be able to consider the establishment of maximum levels for the use of vitamins and minerals in fortified foods and food supplements. EFSA’s work in this area, as well as the safety evaluation of nutritional substances carried out by its additives panel (AFC), will make an important contribution to the implementation of the Directive on Food Supplements and the forthcoming Regulation on the addition of nutrients to foods. EFSA’s scientific advice will therefore help ensure that nutrient additions to foods and use of food supplements in no way compromise food safety. Helping consumers make appropriate dietary choices also requires catering to the needs of specific population groups, for instance, those who suffer from food allergies or intolerances. And we worked to provide the Commission with advice on foods or food components which may trigger allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. The Commission will then be able to utilize this in further developments of EU food labelling legislation in this respect.

These are some of the activities of EFSA in the field of nutrition and I must say that I am very grateful to the scientists of the EFSA NDA Panel for their excellent work so far.

But we need to go further. The great challenge in terms of public health has led the EU institutions and Member States to strengthen their policies with a focus on the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases. This calls, I think, for a stronger involvement EFSA on nutrition. This is one of my top priorities following EFSA’s Board recommendations.

In 2007, we will start to increase significantly the human and financial resources dedicated in EFSA to nutrition. As a reference body in Europe, EFSA will play a major role in Europe in 3 areas:

First of all, I want EFSA to assist policy makers at EU and national levels in developing policies and setting diet-related public health targets.

On request of Commission services, we will set Population Reference Intakes for nutrients and certain other essential dietary components. This challenging task will lead among others to the establishment, for adults and children, of energy requirements needed to ensure healthy body weights and prevent obesity. Following a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence, EFSA will also determine recommended intakes of carbohydrates, fibre and fats – setting recommended levels. The Panel expects to deliver the first part of its task related to energy, macronutrients, and dietary fibre by mid-2007. We will then pursue work related to recommended intakes of vitamins and minerals, and if appropriate, other essential substances with a physiological effect.

Scientific knowledge must be translated into meaningful advice. In that context, EFSA will assist Member States in setting dietary intake targets to address the most salient diet- related public health issues at national level taking into account: - dietary patterns and intakes; - food supply and composition; -and importantly, cultural attitudes to food and diet.

More generally, EFSA will make an important contribution to Community action in the area of nutrition, ensuring that it is underpinned and supported by the latest and most authoritative scientific advice. To this end, EFSA will continue to participate actively to the European Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

Secondly, EFSA will support the development of accurate and meaningful communications to the public on the relation between diet and health in order to help consumers to make healthy dietary choices. For Europeans, food and eating are associated first and foremost with taste and pleasure. This was confirmed again last year in a Eurobarometer which we commissioned together with DG SANCO on risk issues. Yet obesity is also mentioned spontaneously by consumers as being one of the possible problems or risks associated with food. Consumers are aware of the relation between food, diet and health and indeed everyday science provides new findings regarding the important relation between what we eat and our health, our quality of life. The food industry also contributes to the dissemination of such information to consumers. The new Regulation on nutrition and health claims seeks to ensure a level playing field for such information in the EU whilst providing a high level of consumer protection. This Regulation will bring a significant body of new work for EFSA and we welcome the opportunity of providing sound scientific advice to underpin and support its implementation. Pending its final publication, EFSA’s NDA Panel has already begun to organise itself to take on the new tasks relating to the development of scientific advice on nutrient profiles and the scientific substantiation of claims. We will contribute to the development of guidance for the preparation of applications and will review applications which you as industry will submit for claims relating to the reduction of disease risk and children’s development and health. We also will provide scientific advice for the development of a Community list of permitted health claims (excluding those referring to disease risk reduction and children’s health and development for which applicants will be required to file for prior authorization). EFSA is committed to carrying out its work on claims in close co-operation with national food safety authorities and stakeholders. We have already begun to discuss this issue with our Advisory Forum members and, as you may know, we will organise in Bologna, 8-10 November, a conference on nutrition and health claims to debate and discuss issues surrounding the scientific substantiation of claims and nutrient profiles. 200 people will participate to this conference and I have decided to webstream the final morning of the conference so that a broader public may watch, live via the internet, the final conclusions and outcomes of the conference. We will also have further opportunities to debate these issues with our stakeholders and interested parties. EFSA will also provide guidance on how to translate nutrient recommendations into advice regarding foods and healthy diets, the so-called “Food-Based Dietary Guidelines.” EFSA organized a Scientific Colloquium on this topic in March 2006 and will deliver its advice on the development of food-based dietary guidelines in 2007.

A third area where EFSA is in a unique position is in relation to the collection and analysis dietary intake data from all EU countries. In January 2007, EFSA will organize with Member States the first meeting of the national food consumption database managers. This EU-wide network will enable us to set up in 2007 a European wide database, including dietary intake data for adults and children for 16 categories of food. This first work will be of great value both for all those who are dealing with nutrition in Europe and for exposure assessment.

To conclude, my ambition is that EFSA will become the European reference body for risk assessment both for food safety and for healthy diets. To achieve this purpose, we will need close co-operation with Commission services, with Member States and at international level. We will also engage in an open dialogue with our stakeholders, consumers, retailers and industry. Through the continued development of its work in the nutrition area, EFSA will also support the European industry’s efforts to address today’s public health challenges and strengthen its competitiveness.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.