As part of my literature review, I am looking into food legislation, regulation and claims. While studying this topic, it is evident that sustainability continues to be at the forefront of people’s minds. It is a vital concern of policymakers within the food system.
As of the 27th of March 2021, a new regulation has been put in place , following the approval by the European Parliament on 17 April 2019, the Council formally adopted, on 13 June 2019,
This regulation is on transparency and sustainability of the EU food chain risk assessment. It was passed by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. The regulation will reinforce EFSA’s ability to carry out its risk assessments following the highest transparency standards.
To quickly outline this regulation
It aims to
- Increase the transparency of EU risk assessment in the food chain,
- Strengthening the reliability, objectivity, and independence of scientific studies used by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
- Revisit the governance of EFSA to ensure its long-term sustainability.
- Allows access to scientific studies and information submitted to EFSA to the public
- Embeds public consultations in the process for assessing applications for approval of regulated products
- Ensures that EFSA is notified of all commissioned studies in a particular area to guarantee that companies applying for authorisations submit all relevant information
- Gives the European Commission the option of asking EFSA to procure additional studies
For more in depth information see the below sites
European Food Safety Authority
European Commission
Regulation (EU) 2019/1381