Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-25-Speech-2-348"
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"en.20051025.26.2-348"2
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".
Mr President, I know that it is late and we are tired, but I think this is one of the success stories of the good and close cooperation between the three institutions. We are helping to update very important legislation on food safety and thereby promoting the health of European citizens.
It is true that this is a technical amendment and the idea is to keep the authorisations for food additives up to date with innovation incentive developments. Of course, the requirements are there: the food additives have to be safe, there has to be a need for their use and consumers must not be misled by their use.
I will mention a few specific points, very briefly, concerning nitrates and nitrites. After the advice we received from EFSA, we proposed changes to the authorisations, so that we now have more control over the amounts of these additives. Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that this approach is not appropriate for certain traditional national meat products and allowance is therefore made for derogation in order to keep those traditional products on the market. There is also a measure to allow new food additives, to help the food industry benefit from innovation and remain competitive.
A package of compromise amendments was put together following close contact between the institutions. COREPER has already agreed to this compromise package and I am very happy to add the Commission’s support to these amendments.
On the use of sweeteners in sports drinks, we felt that it was more appropriate to address this issue not in this specific directive, but in the context of future work relating to sports foods, including sports drinks, where such products can be properly defined.
An issue that I know is of concern is that of aspartame, nicin and nitrosamine. These have been evaluated in the past and approved for use as food additives. They are not covered by the current proposal. However, I know that a recent study on aspartame has cast doubt on its safety and the Commission has already asked the European Food Safety Authority to proceed without delay to a full evaluation of the new data. As soon as this evaluation is completed, EFSA will advise the Commission accordingly on the safety of the product.
We have also asked EFSA to evaluate nicin and nitrosamine, two antimicrobial agents, as a matter of priority. In that connection, we have also asked EFSA to address the issue of anti-microbial resistance.
On these three issues, EFSA has already written to the chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and I would like to say here in plenary that the Commission will make full use of its competence to adopt emergency measures under Chapter IV, Section 2, ‘Emergencies’ of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 on food law. Should the European Food Safety Authority advise that a food additive is not safe for consumers, we will immediately take all necessary steps, using the power given to us by the regulation, if any of the additives are judged by EFSA not to be safe.
I believe that, given the concerns expressed by Members, this commitment by the Commission should reassure them that we will deal with the issue with due regard for the safety of the public."@en1
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