A National Infant Feeding Policy for Ireland

Transcription

1 12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER FSAI NEWS ISSN / VOL 14 / ISSUE 6 A Natioal Ifat Feedig Policy for Irelad Scietific Recommedatios for a Natioal Ifat Feedig Policy i Irelad, a scietific report recetly published by the FSAI, highlights a umber of key cocers with curret ifat feedig treds ad outlies specific actios ad advice to improve the utritioal diet of mums-to-be ad ifats from birth to oe year. The report is based o research ito ifat feedig practices i Irelad ad the latest iteratioal scietific opiio. It states that emergig evidece worldwide shows good utritio durig pregacy ad throughout a ifat s first year ca have a sigificat positive impact o health throughout a perso s life. A guide for healthcare professioals, Best Practice for Ifat Feedig i Irelad, was also published recetly, ad outlies the practicalities of puttig best ifat feedig guidelies ito practice. The developmet of this guide was oe of the key recommedatios made by the Expert Workig Group who compiled the scietific report. It will be a ivaluable resource for all healthcare professioals who have a role i providig advice to wome before they become pregat ad while they are pregat. It will also guide parets o all aspects of food ad utritio for babies from birth through the first year of life. I Irelad, breastfeedig rates cotiue to remai low ad this ew report provides guidace o how to address ew ad emergig issues such as the eed to supplemet all ifats from birth with vitami D to prevet rickets ad special guidace o the safe preparatio of powdered ifat formulae to prevet foodbore illess. The weaig of ifats from milk to solid food is also foud to be a area that eeds particular attetio, as a estimated 71% of babies are beig weaed oto solid foods too early. I additio, the spirallig prevalece of childhood obesity, ow kow to affect toddlers, has its origis i poor ifat feedig practices. This ew report ad the accompayig guide for healthcare professioals addresses all of these issues. Both publicatios are freely available from our website, or by cotactig our advice-lie o Pictured at the lauch of the scietific report are (l-r): Neerja Murphy age 11 moths; Lea Paruszewiski Parra age 9 moths; Felicity Rya, FSAI, with Kate Sewell age 3 moths ad Joh Cowley age 7 moths. 1 A Natioal Ifat Feedig Policy for Irelad 2 Food Safety ad Irelad s Presidecy of the Europea Uio 3 Huma Library at the FSAI 3 Advice-lie Evaluatio 4 New EU Food Iformatio Regulatios 6 Health Claims Update 6 SFPA Regioal Workshops 6 Natioal Semiar with the Local Authority Veteriary Service 7 Semiar o Food Flavourig Legislatio 7 Food Fraud Task Force 7 Auditig Food Safety Maagemet Systems 7 Evets 7 Date for your Diary 7 Food Fraud Task Force 8 Legislatio Update 10 FAQ 10 Recet Publicatios Supplemet: EFSA Keepig Europe s Food Safe for 10 Years

2 Food Safety ad Irelad s Presidecy of the Europea Uio For the first six moths of the New Year, Irelad will fid itself cetre stage i Europea affairs as it begis its Presidecy of the Coucil of the Europea Uio. This will be Irelad s 7th Presidecy sice joiig i 1973, ad will coicide with the 40th aiversary of our accessio to the EU. It will be a busy time for Miisters ad their departmets. Estimates of the scale of activity predict that chairig meetigs of miisters ad staff from the 27 Member States will see at least 15,000 delegates attedig about 180 evets, may of which will take place i Dubli Castle. A highlight of our last Presidecy i 2004 was a ceremoy to mark the membership of te ew Member States. This time, however, we just miss out, as the latest ad 28th member, Croatia, will ot officially joi util July Irelad will take over from curret hosts Cyprus ad will also work with Lithuaia ad Greece who are ext i lie for the Presidecy. It will be a challegig period, but oe which presets a opportuity to boost our reputatio ad further cemet the ecoomic ad political relatioships i the EU, whose populatio ow tops 500 millio. Whether political or techical, the role of the Presidecy is to meet ad deal with each challege, fidig compromises as ecessary ad keep the Europea project o track. The headlie issues durig the ext six moths will most likely feature fiacial stability, the EU budget , the crucial Commo Agricultural Policy, the Commo Fisheries Policy ad Horizo 2020 (the EU s future framework programme for research ad iovatio). Noetheless, food cotrol ad food safety will be a strog feature of the work of the Presidecy. Both the Departmet of Health ad the Departmet of Agriculture, Food ad the Marie will play key roles i Coucil, egotiatig a wide rage of food safety related legislatio. They will also lead the EU Member States durig various meetigs of the Codex Alimetarius, where stadards ad guidace for iteratioal trade i food o a global level are developed ad agreed. I all of these tasks, the FSAI will provide techical ad scietific iput ad support. Some importat legislatio will be o the ageda. A major proposal is the revisio of Regulatio EC No. 882/2004 o official cotrols. Its scope is to be exteded to cover plat health, seeds ad plat reproductive material. The proposal also cotais some cotroversial aspects such as the calculatio ad publicatio of the cost of food safety ispectio, samplig ad other cotrols. Moreover, it is proposed to obtai full recovery of these costs from food busiesses, although there is some leeway i the case of small busiesses with less tha te staff ad restricted turover. Other aspects of the proposal iclude the provisio of a report to a food busiess operator followig every ispectio, more trasparecy for the public o outcomes of official cotrols, requiremets for distace sellig, audits of laboratories ad empowerig the Commissio to make additioal sector specific rules. Complex talks are expected o regulatios o foods for particular utritioal uses, the so-called PARNUTS regulatio, where a ew framework regulatio is i had which deals with food for vulerable groups of the populatio, icludig ifats ad toddlers. Work is plaed for a ew regulatio o erucic acid, the purpose of which is to protect cosumers from its possible egative effects i oils ad fats. Food cotrol ad food safety will be a strog feature of the work of the Presidecy. Irelad, through the FSAI, will also play host to a umber of meetigs of the Europea Food Safety Authority (EFSA), who s Advisory Forum, the mai platform for EFSA to iteract with the Member States, will meet i Dubli i March ad cosider its research eeds ad multi-aual pla for Other EFSA meetigs to take place i Dubli will iclude the Natioal Focal Poits ad the Advisory Forum Workig Group o Commuicatios. A emergig group followig the may orgaisatioal chages i food cotrol i the Member States is the Heads of Natioal Food Safety Agecies. Agreemet has just bee reached to formalise this group ad a meetig will be scheduled ad hosted by the FSAI. Clearly, the work of the EU i relatio to food safety ad food cotrols cotiues apace. Makig progress requires diplomacy, teacity ad visio, as well as social ad scietific skills. Irelad s public service is ot without experiece ad capability i these areas. We look forward to the challeges ad the opportuity to make a worthwhile cotributio to improvig stadards ad levels of protectio of all citizes. The hygiee rules are up for discussio with proposals o ate- ad post-mortem as well as Trichiella testig for pigs. EU rules o ovel foods which date from 1997 are also up for egotiatio; the aim beig to protect cosumers while at the same time improvig access to the market for ew ad iovative foods. This is likely to impact o the area of aotechology, which is used i more ad more applicatios ad which poses challeges i esurig appropriate risk assessmets ad risk maagemet. Proposals for rules o foods from cloed aimals are i preparatio, but may well fall to the Presidecy after Irelad. Some clarificatios o the ew food iformatio regulatio, or put simply, food labellig, might well become Irelad s resposibility. Ala Reilly Chief Executive

3 Huma Library at the FSAI The FSAI ra a Huma Library o Tuesday 13 November, as part of Library Irelad Week The day-log evet was desiged to give small food busiesses a opportuity to meet oe-to-oe with food safety experts who acted as huma books providig advice across a rage of food safety areas. Experts aswered questios o key issues facig food busiesses such as food labellig requiremets, displayig calories o meus, best practice for food hygiee, staff traiig ad steps ivolved i startig up a ew food busiess. Food busiesses had the opportuity to visit the huma library ad meet face-to-face with oe of our experts to go through ay issues or questios they may have had i relatio to food safety practices i their busiess. The evet was orgaised i cojuctio with the FSAI s i-house library resource located o Lower Abbey Street, which cotais a wide rage of books, jourals, videos ad olie databases related to food safety ad hygiee. The iformatio cetre is ope to the food idustry, staff of govermet agecies, researchers ad the geeral public. Advice-lie Evaluatio The FSAI advice-lie provides a vital lik to the food idustry ad to cosumers i relatio to all food safety issues. The food idustry cotacts our iformatio lie largely i relatio to FSAI publicatios, legislatio, labellig ad traiig requiremets. The advice-lie also acts as a startig poit for cosumers who wish to make a complait about a food premises or a food that they have purchased. We costatly strive to better the service we provide to our customers. To this ed, we have published a Customer Charter i which we outlie the level of service that ca be expected by our customers. It is importat to us that i order to provide a service which meets the requiremets of our customers ad helps to fulfil our missio, that we receive feedback from users of the service o a regular basis. We therefore carry out evaluatios of our advice-lie service every two years ad appreciate ay feedback received. Our most recet advice-lie evaluatio was carried out from August to October this year, by The Research Perspective Ltd. The evaluatio was carried out i two parts: 1) a survey of advice-lie users lookig at phoe ad cotact ad 2) a mystery shopper exercise whereby Hele Crowley, FSAI, who acted as a huma book at the evet is pictured here with visitor Louis Rya. the advice-lie was cotacted by exteral agets usig 30 differet scearios. The evaluatio focused o assessig the service experiece of recet users of the advice-lie, both telephoe ad query service, ad measurig the service agaist the criteria set out i the Customer Charter. Respose rates to the surveys were good ad above the required thresholds to esure results are reliable. The mai fidigs of the evaluatio were as follows: The advice-lie ad service were highly rated by users Overall satisfactio was good (82%) Most users would use the service agai (88%) First call resolutio was cosidered good at 89%. Where more tha oe call was required, 8% were resolved withi a secod call The legth of time spet o the phoe was deemed reasoable by most callers (95%) Most customer charter metrics were achieved for most users of both services with scores over 80%. Ratigs for the aget who dealt with the queries were high across all metrics However, it was oted that where cotet of query resposes was good i geeral, there is a challege to be addressed i terms of egagig with the specifics of the query resposes eed to be reviewed ad improved i terms of specific query resposes. The full report o this evaluatio is available o our website at: A copy of our Customer Charter is available to dowload at: 3 Elaie Coolly, Advice-lie Assistat, FSAI. Our advice-lie ca be cotacted o or at ifo@fsai.ie, ad operates from 9am to 5pm daily.

4 New EU Food Iformatio Regulatios Upcomig chages uder EU food iformatio regulatios (Regulatio No. (EU) 1169/2011) will have a sigificat impact o how food busiesses commuicate with cosumers. The ew food iformatio rules will overhaul labellig ad advertisig rules that have bee i place sice 2000 ad will esure cosumers have the iformatio eeded to help them make more iformed choices about the food they purchase. 4 The ew regulatio exteds beyod food labellig to cover activities cocerig the provisio of food iformatio to cosumers, icludig by meas of iteret marketig. It applies to food busiesses at all stages of the food chai ad addresses diverse issues such as fot size, allerge labellig of o-prepacked foods, utritio declaratio, frot of pack labellig ad origi labellig. The ew rules recogise that the food label itself is ot the oly meas of commuicatig iformatio o food to cosumers. Today, the fuctioality of the iteret offers greater possibilities for cosumers to access iformatio either via advertisig or by supportig websites. Social media is beig exploited to extol the virtues of products through icreasigly sophisticated marketig methods. This offers ew challeges for the legislatio ad the authorities tryig to eforce it. Busiesses are ecouraged to familiarise themselves with the ew regulatory requiremets, icludig timelies for implemetatio. The booklet: Overview of Chages to Food Labellig Itroduced uder the New Food Iformatio Regulatio is available to dowload from the FSAI website at Regulatio No. (EU) 1169/2011 will apply from 13 December 2014, with the exceptio of requiremets for madatory utritio declaratio, which will apply from 13 December 2016, ad specific requiremets regardig the desigatio of miced meat, which will apply from 1 Jauary The Mai Priciples of Regulatio No. (EU) 1169/2011 are as follows: Fair Iformatio Practices While maitaiig the core objective of the curret rules that food iformatio must ot be misleadig, the ew Regulatio expads o the ways i which food iformatio could be cosidered misleadig, icludig: by suggestig that the food possesses special characteristics whe i fact all similar foods possess such characteristics, i particular by specifically emphasisig the presece or absece of certai igrediets ad/or utriets by suggestig, by meas of the appearace, the descriptio or pictorial represetatios, the presece of a particular food or a igrediet, while i reality, a compoet aturally preset or a igrediet ormally used i that food has bee substituted with a differet compoet or a differet igrediet Madatory Food Iformatio The regulatio stipulates that madatory food iformatio must be marked i a cospicuous place i such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible ad, where appropriate, idelible. It must ot i ay way be hidde, obscured, detracted from or iterrupted by ay other writte or pictorial matter or ay other iterveig material. Volutary food iformatio must ot be displayed to the detrimet of the space available for madatory food iformatio. The list of madatory iformatio which should be provided for all foods set out i the curret rules is maitaied i the ew Regulatio, e.g. product ame, list of igrediets, et weight, date of miimum durability etc. However, certai particulars i this list have bee exteded ad others which are curretly provided o a volutary basis will be madatory uder the ew rules, e.g. utritio labellig, origi labellig for certai meats. Additioal madatory idicatios for specific types or categories of foods are set out, the majority of which already exist i curret legislatio, e.g. statemets regardig the presece of sweeteers, foods cotaiig glycyrrhiziic acid, foods packaged i certai gases etc. However, some of the curret madatory statemets have bee ameded ad these iclude beverages with high caffeie cotet ad foods cotaiig aspartame/ aspartame-acesulfame salt. Emma Reihardt, FSAI, is pictured here at the labellig semiar Same Field of Visio Uder the ew Regulatio, the ame of the product, the et quatity of food ad the actual alcoholic stregth by volume for beverages cotaiig more tha 1.2% by volume of alcohol must appear i the same field of visio. The requiremet to iclude date of miimum durability i the same field of visio, which is a requiremet uder the curret rules, has bee removed.

5 Product Name The Regulatio itroduces additioal requiremets regardig the product ame with specific idicatios required to accompay the product ame where relevat. Specific provisios iclude requiremets regardig: foods that have bee froze before sale ad which are sold defrosted; meat products ad meat preparatios which have the appearace of a cut/joit of meat to which water is added ad where the water is more tha 5% of the weight of the fiished product; meat products, meat preparatios ad fishery products which give the impressio they are made from a whole cut of meat but cosist of differet pieces combied; foods for which substitute igrediets are used. Refied Oils ad Fats - Vegetable Origi The Regulatio allows for the groupig together of refied oils ad fats of vegetable origi i the list of igrediets uder the desigatio vegetable oils or vegetable fats as appropriate, which must be followed immediately by a list of idicatios of specific vegetable origi. It may be followed by the phrase i varyig proportios. If grouped together, vegetable oils or vegetable fats must be icluded i the list of igrediets i descedig order of weight, o the basis of the total weight of the vegetable oils or vegetable fat preset. The expressio fully hydrogeated or partly hydrogeated, as appropriate, must accompay the idicatio of hydrogeated oil or fat. Refied Oils ad Fats - Aimal Origi The idicatio oil or fat of aimal origi must appear with either the adjective aimal, or the idicatio of specific aimal origi. The expressio fully hydrogeated or partly hydrogeated, as appropriate, must accompay the idicatio of hydrogeated oil or fat. Allerges Curretly, all pre-packaged food products must idicate o the label the use i their product of specific igrediets which the EU has idetified as causig allergeic reactios i certai people or to which idividuals ca be itolerat. This list of substaces remais the same; however, uder the ew rules, they will have to be idicated i the list of igrediets ad the ame of the substace must be emphasised through a typeset that clearly distiguishes it from the rest of the list of igrediets, e.g. by meas of the fot, style or backgroud colour. For pre-packaged foods which are exempt from the requiremet to provide a list of igrediets, e.g. alcohol, the idicatio o the label must comprise of the word cotais followed by the ame of the substace or product. Uder the ew rules, the requiremet to highlight the use of ay of these substaces i the productio of a foodstuff has bee exteded to foods sold loose such as food i restaurats, take-aways, catees ad deli couters etc. Rules o the meas by which this iformatio must be made available to the cosumer for foods sold loose, must be itroduced by each Member State. Dr Waye Aderso ad Ae Marie Bolad, both of the FSAI, cosider food labels at the semiar Nutritio Declaratio Curretly, the provisio of utritio iformatio is volutary uless a utritio-related claim is made whe the declaratio the becomes madatory. From 13th December, 2016, utritio iformatio will be madatory for most pre-packaged foodstuffs. For food busiesses who provide utritio iformatio o a volutary basis betwee 13th December, 2014 ad 13th December, 2016, the declaratio must comply with the ew Regulatio. There are a umber of foodstuffs which are exempt from the madatory requiremet to provide utritio iformatio ad iclude uprocessed products that comprise a sigle igrediet or category of igrediets, herbs, spices, salt ad chewig gums. Also icluded i the exemptio is food, icludig hadcrafted food directly supplied by the maufacturer of small quatities of products to the fial cosumer or to local retail establishmets directly supplyig the fial cosumer. All compoets of the madatory utritio declaratio should be i the same field of visio o the foodstuff packagig. Date of Miimum Durability I the case of foods which, from a microbiological poit of view, are highly perishable ad are therefore likely after a short period to costitute a immediate dager to huma health, the date of miimum durability must be replaced by the use-by date. Uder the ew Regulatio, oce the use-by date has passed, a food is deemed to be usafe. The Regulatio also requires a idicatio of the date of freezig or the date of first freezig for froze meat, froze meat preparatios ad froze uprocessed fishery products. Coutry of Origi Coutry of origi labellig is curretly madatory for certai products such as beef, fish, hoey, olive oil ad fresh fruit ad vegetables. I other cases, it curretly oly becomes madatory whe its absece might mislead cosumers as to the true origi of the product. Uder the ew rules, the madatory idicatio of coutry of origi or place of proveace is exteded to the meat of pigs, sheep, goats ad poultry. Followig a impact assessmet o the itroductio of such rules, the EU Commissio is required to itroduce legislatio settig out how origi will be determied ad how this iformatio must be idicated. The Europea Commissio must itroduce these rules by 13th December, I additio, the ew Regulatio requires the EU Commissio to set out rules where the coutry of origi or the place of proveace of a food is give ad where it is ot the same as that of its primary igrediet (defied as represetig more tha 50% of the food). These rules will require that the coutry of origi or place of proveace of the primary igrediet must (i) also be give; or (ii) be idicated as beig differet to that of the food. See our website at: for further iformatio ad semiar presetatios. 5

6 Health Claims Update From 14 December this year, the oly Article 13 (geeral health) claims which are legally permitted for use o foods ad food supplemets are those listed i the Aex of Regulatio (EU) No 432/2012 as well as those curretly o hold. A full list of approved Article 13 claims was to be published by Jauary 2010, however, there were sigificat delays. I May 2012, Regulatio (EU) No 432/2012 was published which lists 222 approved Article 13 claims ad their coditios of use. This is oly a partial list. There are 2,235 Article 13 claims for which the assessmet by EFSA or the cosideratio by the Commissio has yet to be fialised. These are cosidered to be o hold ad the majority of these claims o hold relate to botaical substaces. To date 1,719 Article 13 claims have bee rejected. The EU Register of claims lists all permitted claims ad their coditios of use as well as all rejected claims. It ca be viewed at The ID codes for Article 13 claims which are o hold are listed o the Europea Commissio website ad ca be viewed at To fid out what claim a particular ID code relates to, food busiesses must check the database of health claims located o EFSAs website at 6 SFPA Regioal Workshops The FSAI coordiated a series of regioal workshops durig September ad October with sea-fisheries protectio officers (SFPOs) from the Sea-Fisheries Protectio Authority (SFPA). The SFPA eforces food safety legislatio, o behalf of the FSAI, i relatio to fish ad live bivalve molluscs i approved establishmets, fishig vessels ad shellfish productio areas. The aim of the workshops was to highlight food safety topics of importace to the SFPOs. This year, topics icluded seafood labellig, assurig seafood safety (the Marie Istitute (MI) Cotamiats ad Residues Programmes), shellfish moitorig, the Food Safety Maual Programme of A Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the EU rapid alert system for food ad feed ad hadlig of food icidets. I additio to speakers from the FSAI ad the SFPA, the sessios beefitted greatly with presetatios from experts from the MI ad BIM. The workshops were held i SFPA Port Offices or other suitable veues earby, to best facilitate SFPOs. Pictured at the Dumore East regioal workshop i September were (l-r): Back row: Liam Keedy, Ala Mullery ad Damia Alle of the SFPA; Vicky Lyos, BIM; Maria Meghe, FSAI; ad Adriee Patterso, SFPA Frot Row: Gavi Kierse, Eugee Wallace ad Ailee O Sulliva of the SFPA Natioal Semiar with the Local Authority Veteriary Service The FSAI held a atioal semiar for local authority veteriary ispectors o 8 November last i the Clario hotel, IFSC. The semiar was atteded largely by local authority veteriary ispectors egaged i official cotrols o behalf of the FSAI. Dr Marti Blake, Departmet of Agriculture, Food ad the Marie (DAFM), provided the opeig presetatio ad gave a update o Regulatio 1099/2009/EC o the protectio of aimals i slaughterhouses, which applies from 1 Jauary Details were outlied o how the ew legislatio will be implemeted across all slaughterhouses. Updates were also provided o the ew Aimal Health ad Welfare Bill ad the Veteriary Practice Amedmet Act. Pablo Romero Barrios of the Europea Food Safety Authority (EFSA) spoke i detail o the review of meat ispectios carried out o pork, poultry ad other species, ad the scietific opiio ad techical assistace that EFSA will provide to the Europea Commissio by 2013 o this topic. Sabie Juelicher of the Food ad Veteriary Office (FVO) preseted o EU provisios for flexibility i the hygiee package ad provided iformatio o the FVO missio series relatig to this Pictured are (l-r) Siead Murphy, FSAI; Joh Matthews, FSAI; Pablo Romero Barrios, EFSA; Sharo Williams, FSAI; Sabie Juelicher, FVO; Marti Blake, DAFM; Da Crowley, Cork Couty Coucil ad Pat Farrell, FSAI. flexibility. The presetatio highlighted best practices ad examples of o the spot applicatios for flexibility. Robert Huey from the Departmet of Agriculture ad Rural Developmet, Norther Irelad, spoke o Oe Health ad how it may be applied i the everyday work of the local authority veteriary ispector. Fially, Da Crowley, Cork Couty Coucil, discussed the local authority microbiological samplig programme for 2012 ad highlighted the mai process issues ad how these could be resolved by all local authorities.

7 EFSA Keepig Europe s Food Safe for 10 Years The Europea Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established i 2002, followig a series of food crises i Europe, as part of a major overhaul of the Europea Uio s approach to protectig its citizes from possible risks associated with the food chai. Workig Together Scietific cooperatio betwee EFSA ad EU Member States is a cetral pillar of EFSA s Foudig Regulatio ad has therefore bee a corerstoe of the Authority s activities sice it was set up i The Advisory Forum ad Focal Poits are key vehicles for data ad iformatio exchage, cosultatio, ad work-sharig betwee EFSA ad Member States. Advisory Forum EFSA s Advisory Forum coects EFSA with the atioal food safety authorities of all EU Member States. The Advisory Forum advises EFSA o scietific matters, its work programme ad priorities, ad helps the Authority to address emergig risk issues as early as possible. With EFSA i the role of eabler, the Forum provides a valuable risk assessmet umbrella for Member States, allowig them to cocetrate their eergies o atioal priorities ad reducig duplicatio of effort. Members use the Forum to advise EFSA o scietific matters, its work programme ad priorities, ad to address emergig risk issues as early as possible. Advisory Forum members represet each atioal body resposible for risk assessmet i the EU. Professor Ala Reilly, CEO, FSAI represets Irelad o the Advisory Forum. Natioal Focal Poit The atioal focal poits are cosidered EFSA s ambassadors i the Member States. I Irelad, the FSAI is amed as the atioal focal poit. They serve as relay cotacts betwee risk maagers, atioal authorities, research istitutes, stakeholders ad cosumers i the Member States ad esure the adequate ad timely two-way exchage of all relevat iformatio. The role of the focal poit is to keep EFSA ad Advisory Forum members iformed of atioal risk assessmet ad scietific developmets. The etwork of focal poits coordiate commuicatios with risk assessmet istitutes i the Member States ad are closely ivolved i work programmes coducted by EFSA ad by atioal authorities. Scietific Excellece EFSA s scietific advice has bee supportig the Europea food safety system for 10 years. Sice it became operatioal, the Authority has published more tha 2,500 scietific outputs that have bee used by the Europea Commissio, Member States ad the Europea Parliamet as the basis for risk maagemet measures ad policy iitiatives. EFSA s Scietific Committee ad Paels are composed of highly qualified experts i scietific risk assessmet, with a wide variety of expertise allowig EFSA to address all aspects of its remit: from food ad feed safety to utritio, aimal health ad welfare, plat protectio ad plat health. Members of EFSA s Scietific Committee ad Paels are appoited through a rigorous selectio procedure o the basis of prove scietific excellece. The scietists work for EFSA i a idepedet capacity brigig their expertise ad experiece from a diverse rage of backgrouds together i a joit assessmet result. The curret Irish members of EFSA s Scietific Committee ad Paels are as follows: Dr Decla Bolto, Pricipal Research Officer, Teagasc, is a member of the Scietific Pael o Biological Hazards Dr Joh Griffi, Seior Superitedig Veteriary Ispector, Departmet of Agriculture, Food ad the Marie, is Vice- Chair of the Scietific Pael o Biological Hazards Dr Michael O Keeffe, Residue Specialist, is a member of the Scietific Pael o Cotamiats i the Food Chai Dr Ioa Pratt, Cosultat Toxicologist, FSAI, is Chair of the Scietific Pael o Food Cotact Materials, Flavourigs, Ezymes ad Processig Aids ad a member of the EFSA Scietific Committee Protectig Europea Cosumers Europeas ejoy oe of the highest levels of food safety i the world. Helpig to esure safe food for a commuity that ow umbers early 500 millio citizes has bee achieved through the cotiued commitmet ad iovatio of the EU istitutios ad its idepedet agecies. Over the past 10 years EFSA has uderpied the EU s decisios o food safety through its extesive scietific work, which is grouded i the most up-todate kowledge, methodologies ad data. EFSA s scietific remit covers the full rage of cosumers farm to fork cocers ad the work of its experts has bee at the core of the EU s success i tacklig may issues.

8 EFSA Keepig Europe s Food Safe for 10 Years 10 The year 2002 was a pivotal oe i the history of Europea food safety, with the establishmet of the Europea Food Safety Authority ad the eactmet of the Geeral Food Law which heralded a ew evidece-based era for policy makers. If we tur back the clock to the daw of the ew milleium, Europea food safety was i a much differet place. A strig of food crises had eroded popular faith i the ability of Europe s leaders to esure the food that reached cosumers plates was safe. Those i power were left with much to do to wi back the trust of a icreasigly wary populatio. The most dramatic issue was of course BSE but there was also sigificat public cocer about a rage of other food safety-related issues such as Salmoella, dioxis, ad the use of chemicals i the food chai. Decisive actio was called for ad the Europea legislator did ot fail. Followig the Europea Commissio s ifluetial White Paper o Food Safety i 2000, the Geeral Food Law ushered i a ew food safety paradigm for Europe with cosumer protectio at its heart. The sigle most critical chage it itroduced was the separatio of risk assessmet from risk maagemet, thereby puttig sciece at the cetre of decisio makig. I this ew food safety system, cooperatio was recogised as a key tool i protectig cosumers, cosiderig that may of today s food safety problems are global i ature ad that the food chai is oly as strog as its weakest lik. The Geeral Food Law has eabled cooperatio i a uprecedeted maer ad Europe has made sigificat progress over the past decade thaks i large part to the close bods that EFSA ad the Member States have built. I parallel, the ivestmet made i risk assessmet has icreased at both the atioal ad Europea levels. Ad we are reapig the beefits with sigificat progress i a umber of key public health areas. For example, the umber of BSE cases i Europe has dropped from more tha 2000 i 2002 to just 28 i The coordiated, evidece-based approach to curtailig BSE has prove successful both i terms of reducig the prevalece of the disease as well as i restorig cosumer cofidece. I cotrast with the public axiety about Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease i the late 90s, a 2010 survey showed that oly 2% of EU cosumers cosidered BSE to be a possible risk associated with food. Of course Europe caot be complacet; the Commissio s TSE Roadmap outlies the future measures that must be take to esure that there is o re-emergece. EFSA s scietific advice will remai a cetral pillar of that process. Europe is makig sigificat progress o a umber of other frots; for example the ogoig reductio i huma Salmoella cases, which have bee halved i the EU i the period 2004 to 2009, shows what coordiated cotrol programmes ca achieve. From a cosumer protectio perspective, a sigificat part of EFSA s work programme i recet years has bee devoted to assessig health ad utritio claims. The assessmet of over 3000 claims has culmiated i the approval of a list of permitted health claims by the Commissio earlier this year. I practice this meas that usubstatiated claims will be removed from products by the ed of this year, thus esurig that Europea cosumers are ot exposed to possible misleadig claims. The exchage of iformatio ad data o food safety has bee bolstered over the past decade. Thaks to the willigess of Member States to share the data from their atioal cotrol systems, EFSA is able to moitor ad aalyse data o a wide rage of cotamiats icludig for example veteriary drug residues, dioxis, atimicrobial resistace ad pesticide residues. This moitorig ad aalysis of data is a importat tool i protectig Europea public health i a area which we kow is of cocer to citizes. Joit Coferece to Celebrate EFSA s Aiversary The FSAI ad EFSA joitly hosted a iteratioal coferece i Dubli i October. The coferece, to mark EFSA s 10th aiversary, brought together EU regulatory ad parliametary represetatives, together with stakeholders i the food chai, to discuss the curret state of food safety i Europe ad to examie emergig threats ad risks. The coferece was opeed by Simo Coveey, T.D., Miister for Agriculture, Food ad the Marie. It provided a opportuity to look back over the past te years o the evolutio of food safety i the EU, to assess curret matters ad to look forward to what food safety issues may be o the meu i Prof. Ala Reilly, Chief Executive of the FSAI, welcomed the progress made by Europea food regulators over the last te years, particularly the role played by EFSA i times of food crises, providig rapid resposes to Member States i the form of scietific expertise ad evaluatio. He stated that closer cooperatio ad coordiatio of activities is key to esurig the safety of Europe s food chai. This has bee cetral to EFSA s missio, providig the highest possible stadards of idepedet scietific advice ad risk assessmets.

9 EFSA Keepig Europe s Food Safe for 10 Years Eurobarometer surveys have cosistetly show over the years that cosumers perceive the presece of chemical residues i foods as a serious risk to their health. A crisis i oe Member State ca overight become a priority for all. Together, EFSA ad the Member States have developed crisis preparedess procedures over the past decade ad tested them aually to esure they are fit for purpose. Moreover, they are put ito practice i real-life situatios o a umber of occasios every year. While each crisis situatio is uique, the importace of effective commuicatio is commo to all. Whe oe cosiders the diversity of the Europea populatio ad the differet regioal perceptios of risk, it is ot a easy task. As the complexity of risk assessmet icreases, EFSA is challeged to commuicate the ucertaities ad limitatios of our risk assessmets ad to cotextualise risk. To do so, we rely o close collaboratio with the atioal agecies ad we are very grateful to the commuicatio staff at the FSAI for their valued iput. Europe ca take pride i its achievemets, yet it is clear that there are challeges ahead associated with factors such as the ogoig liberalisatio of food trade, the sustaiability of our food productio systems, global populatio growth, the obesity epidemic, urbaisatio, ageig populatios, climate chage, ew techologies, ew legislatio, ad the iteractio betwee sciece ad society. Risk assessmet itself is becomig more complex as we icreasigly have to address multiple chemical exposures, multiple risks, evirometal impacts ad assess beefit as well as risk. Iroically, while there is a lack of data for some risk assessmets, i other cases improved aalytical techiques are geeratig vastly more data which we must aalyse. Future challeges were high o the ageda of two evets that EFSA orgaised i Parma recetly to mark its teth aiversary. The first of these evets etitled Challegig boudaries i risk assessmet sharig experieces took place o November 7-8 ad brought together more tha 600 experts from aroud the world to look at the challeges facig regulatory sciece from a multidiscipliary perspective. The presetatios ad debate that took place will help to keep EFSA at the forefrot of the sciece of risk assessmet i the comig years ad they are available o our website. Less tha a week later, the secod evet which was co-orgaised with the Commissio s DG Health & Cosumers provided a platform for stakeholders ad parter istitutios to cotribute their visio for EFSA s future. It built o the outcomes of the secod exteral evaluatio of EFSA which was published i September ad the discussios will help the Authority s Maagemet Board to formulate its recommedatios for the ogoig developmet of the orgaizatio. The video recordig of the etire evet is also available o the EFSA website. The Food Safety Authority of Irelad has bee a strog supporter of EFSA s work from the outset. Irelad s willigess to share its highest level expertise with the rest of Europe meas it has played a promiet role i shapig Europe s food safety system. I would like to thak Ala ad all the staff of the FSAI for their ivaluable ogoig support for EFSA s work. Catherie Geslai-Laéelle Executive Director, EFSA Delegates at the coferece to mark the occasio of EFSA s 10th aiversary Pictured at the coferece are (l-r): Prof. Ala Reilly, Chief Executive of the FSAI; Ms Catherie Geslai-Laéelle, Executive Director of EFSA ad Simo Coveey, T.D., Miister for Agriculture, Food ad the Marie

10 EFSA Keepig Europe s Food Safe for 10 Years EFSA s Timelie 500 th reaches 300. Focal Poits set up to act as a iterface betwee EFSA ad atioal food safety authorities, cosumers ad other stakeholders. First aual pesticides report published. 1,000 th completed EFSA Joural the ew olie platform becomes fully operatioal EFSA moves ito ew, purpose-built premises i Parma. Adoptio of Sciece Strategy for Catherie Geslai-Laéelle appoited as Executive Director Pesticide Steerig Committee is created, made up of represetatives from EFSA, the Europea Commissio ad Member States. Expert Database created, establishig a 2011 Committee holds 50 th pleary meetig. Aual summary report o zoooses shows that huma cases of Salmoella Number of Adoptio of strategy for cooperatio ad etworkig with EU Member States. Commuicatios Strategy adopted, formalisig EFSA s commitmet to commuicate advice to its pricipal parters, stakeholders ad the public whom EFSA ca call. Pael o Dietetic Products, Nutritio ad Allergies starts evaluatig sciece behid health claims submitted for approval i the EU. Emergig Risks Uit set up. Applicatios Helpdesk set up to coordiate safety assessmet of regulated products, substaces ad claims submitted for authorisatio i the EU. First public cosultatio Stakeholder Cosultative Platform created. EFSA moves ito ew premises i Parma reaches Task Force o Zoooses Data Collectio set up comprisig represetatives of EU Member States, the WHO ad the World Orgaisatio for Aimal Health. The Paels are established, composed of risk assessmet experts from across Europe. First published First meetig of the Advisory Forum, the body that coects EFSA with the atioal food safety authorities of EU Member States. EFSA becomes a operatioal EU agecy, based i Brussels. Podger appoited Executive Director. Colloquium i Brussels EFSA is established to protect Europea cosumers followig a series of food crises i Europe. Stuart Slorach meetig of the Maagemet Board.

11 Semiar o Food Flavourig Legislatio At a semiar o 31 October last, food busiess operators ad eforcemet officers had a opportuity to get a real uderstadig of the regulatory cotrols o the use of flavourigs i food. The semiar addressed issues surroudig flavourigs for use i food, icludig the legislatio by which they are regulated ad the labellig rules related to food to which flavourigs have bee added. Speakers focused o the topics such as legislatio ad safety assessmet, applicatio ad use, labellig ad eforcemet. Pictured at the semiar o food flavourig legislatio were (l-r): Dr Rhodri Evas, Chief Specialist Chemical Safety, FSAI; Dr Ioa Pratt, Cosultat Toxicologist, FSAI; Joy Hardige, AJH Cosultig, UK ad Ae Marie Bolad, Seior Techical Executive i Regulatory Affairs, FSAI Food Fraud Task Force FSAI s recetly established Food Fraud Task Force met for the first time o 16 October. Presetatios o the day were delivered by the FSAI; Suzae Boyd, Head of Icidets, Stadards ad Sciece, FSA NI ad Detective Ala Toft, Natioal Bureau of Crimial Ivestigatio. Suggestios for future work programmes were discussed, icludig strategies for icreasig food fraud awareess; sharig food fraud case iformatio; establishig traiig eeds ad examiatio of iteret sales. A guidace documet, Guidace o Flavourigs, 2012 was lauched at the semiar ad is available o our website at Pictured are members of the Food Fraud Task Force at its iaugural meetig i October 7 Auditig Food Safety Maagemet Systems The FSAI held a oe day traiig workshop i October o auditig food safety maagemet systems for Local Authority veteriary ispectors. This workshop followed o from a series of workshops delivered i 2011 to Departmet of Agriculture, Food ad the Marie veteriary ispectors ad aother delivered to sea-fishery protectio officers i September this year. The aim of these workshops was to provide attedees with the kowledge ad skills for auditig food safety maagemet systems. As part of the workshop, attedees coducted a desktop audit of a food safety maagemet system ad evaluated the HACCP based procedures preseted i a case study. Evets Subscribe to the evets sectio o our website i order to be otified of upcomig evets ad whe registratio for certai evets commeces - Date for your Diary: CATEX 2013 Visit the FSAI s iformatio stad at Stad G22. Date: February Locatio: RDS, Dubli Who should atted: Those workig i the food service ad allied sectors. For further iformatio see

12 Legislatio Update 8 EU Legislatio New Food Additive Commissio Regulatio (EU) No. 1049/2012 of 8 November 2012 regardig the use of polyglycitol syrup i several food categories ad Commissio Regulatio (EU) No. 1050/2012 regardig its specificatio have bee published i the EU Official Joural. Aex II to Regulatio (EC) No. 1333/2008 lays dow a EU list of food additives approved for use i foods ad their coditios of use. Regulatio (EU) No. 1049/2012 ameds this Aex followig a applicatio for the authorisatio of the use of polyglycitol syrup i several food categories. Followig evaluatio by the Europea Food Safety Authority, its use has bee authorised i the food categories applied for ad it has bee assiged E964 as its E-umber. The use of polyglycitol syrup i the food categories has bee authorised for use i the categories specified i the Aex to Regulatio (EU) No. 1049/2012 from 29 November Nutritio Claims Commissio Regulatio (EU) No. 1047/2012 amedig Regulatio (EC) No. 1924/2006 regardig utritio claims has bee published i the EU Official Joural. Regulatio (EC) No. 1924/2006 provides that utritio claims made o foods are oly permitted if they are listed i the Aex to that Regulatio. This amedig Regulatio itroduces ew utritio claims to the list of permitted utritio claims ad modifies the coditios of use of certai claims already permitted by Regulatio (EC) No. 1924/2006. No Added Sodium/Salt The claim statig that salt/ sodium has ot bee added to a particular food product is curretly ot permitted. However, it is recogised that as ew techology has developed ad scietific advice o salt has become geerally accepted, maufacturers are makig efforts to produce more products without additio of salt where techologically feasible. Give the particular iterest from a health poit of view to ecourage such iovatio, this amedig Regulatio makes it possible for maufacturers to use a o added sodium/salt claim where the product does ot cotai ay added sodium/salt or ay other igrediet cotaiig added sodium/salt ad the product cotais o more tha 0.12g sodium, or the equivalet value for salt, per 100g or 100ml. Reduced Saturated Fat Reductio i saturated fat is oly beeficial whe it is ot substituted or whe it is substituted by usaturated fat. Substitutio of saturated fat by tras-fatty acids is ot beeficial for health ad therefore the coditios of use of the utritio claim referrig to the reductio of saturated fat is desiged to avoid substitutio by tras-fatty acids. The claim reduced saturated fat claim may oly be made (a) if the sum of saturated fatty acids ad of tras-fatty acids i the product bearig the claim is at least 30% less tha the sum of saturated fatty acids ad of tras-fatty acids i a similar product; ad (b) if the cotet i tras-fatty acids i the product bearig the claim is equal to or less tha i a similar product. Reduced Sugars This amedig Regulatio sets the coditios for a claim statig that sugars have bee reduced. Uder curret coditios, sugars reductio ca be claimed eve whe sugars are replaced by fat, leadig to a reformulated product higher i eergy. This amedig Regulatio requires that the eergy of the food must ot icrease after reformulatio if usig a reduced sugars claim. The claim reduced sugars may oly be used if the amout of eergy of the product bearig the claim is equal to or less tha the amout of eergy i a similar product. Products placed o the market prior to 1 Jue 2014 which do ot comply with the requiremets of Regulatio (EC) No. 1924/2006 as ameded by this Regulatio may be marketed util the stocks are exhausted. Food Iformatio Regulatio ad Origi Labellig Regulatio (EU) No. 1169/2011 o the provisio of food iformatio to the cosumer will apply from 14 December The Regulatio itroduces a umber of provisios o origi labellig of foods ad it places a obligatio o the EU Commissio to adopt by 13 December 2013 implemetig rules for volutary origi idicatios as well coutry of origi or place of proveace of uprocessed meat of pigs, poultry, sheep ad goats. There is also a obligatio o the EU Commissio to submit a report o the madatory idicatio of coutry of origi or place of proveace of uprocessed meat as a meat igrediet to the Europea Parliamet ad Coucil.

13 The EU Commissio had issued a call for teders earlier i the year regardig the above studies ad cotracts were siged i September ad October. Origi Labellig For Uprocessed Meat The mai objective of this study is to examie ad compare differet optios for implemetig origi labellig for fresh ad froze meat (icludig miced meat ad cuts) of pigs, poultry, sheep ad goats, with the aim of givig appropriate origi iformatio to cosumers, whilst ot causig disproportioate burdes o the meat supply chai, trade, cosumers ad the admiistratio. The study aims to assess the feasibility ad costs of differet geographical levels for expressig the proveace of the meat: EU (or o-eu/third coutry), coutry (Member State or third coutry), a smaller admiistrative area, or a combiatio of these. The cotract was awarded i October 2013 ad will ru for ie moths. Results should be available by mid Details o the terms of referece for the study are available o the Europa website at HQou69. Volutary Origi Labellig ad Madatory Idicatio of Coutry of Origi or Place of Proveace of Meat Used as a Igrediet The Europea Commissio has siged a agreemet with a exteral compay to coduct a exteral study o the applicatio of rules o volutary origi labellig of foods ad o the madatory idicatio of coutry of origi or place of proveace of meat used as a igrediet. The study has the followig objectives: To assess the impact of differet optios of implemetig volutary origi labellig rules ad To assess the eed for the cosumer to be iformed regardig the origi of meat igrediets; ad To assess the feasibility of providig madatory idicatio of coutry of origi or place of proveace of meat as a igrediet The terms of referece for the study ca be viewed at The mai phase of the study is expected to take place betwee November 2012 ad Jauary 2013 with draft results available for volutary origi labellig of foods i February 2013 ad with regard to madatory origi labellig for meat igrediets i May EU Guidace With Regard to Settig Toleraces for Nutriet Values Declared o a Label Work o a EU documet which provides guidace to both food busiesses ad eforcemet officials o toleraces for utritio labellig purposes is earig completio. Toleraces mea the acceptable differeces betwee the utriet values declared o a label ad those established i the course of a official cotrol. Toleraces for utritio labellig are importat as it is ot possible for foods to always cotai the exact utriet levels labelled due for example to atural variatios i raw igrediets, effect of processig, storage coditios ad time etc. Takig these variatios ito cosideratio the draft documet is divided ito the followig sectios: Toleraces for utriet declaratios o food Toleraces for vitamis ad mierals i food supplemets Toleraces for cotrollig the compliace levels of utriets ad other substaces with levels specified i Regulatio 1924/2006/EC ad for cotrollig the levels of vitamis ad mierals whe added to foods accordig to Regulatio 1925/2006/EC There is also a sectio o roudig guidelies for utritio declaratio for foods. The EU Commissio hopes to have the fial documet available o its website by the ed of December Oce it is published it will also be available o our website, 9 The followig Regulatios have bee itroduced over the last few moths i Irelad: S.I. 371 of 2012 Europea Commuities (Equie) (Amedmet) Regulatios, 2012 S.I. No. 374 of 2012 Europea Commuities (Import of Persoal Cosigmets of Products of Aimal Origi) Regulatios, 2012 S.I. No 418 of 2012 Europea Commuities (Official Cotrols o the Import of Food of No-Aimal Origi for Pesticide Residues) (Amedmet) (No. 4) Regulatios, 2012

14 May people cotact our advice-lie each moth to ask questios o a variety of food safety issues. Some questios get asked time ad time agai so i each issue of FSAINEWS, we will feature a Frequetly Asked Questio. This issue s questio is... Why do I Need to Kow if I m Maufacturig or Producig a Ready-to-Eat Food? 10 Microbiological criteria for food are laid dow i Commissio Regulatio (EC) No. 2073/2005 o microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Some of these criteria are applicable to ready-to-eat foods. This is why food busiess operators must determie if the food they maufacture or produce is ready-to-eat whe placed o the market. Food busiess operators must make this decisio whe developig their food safety maagemet system based o the priciples of HACCP. How do I Decide if I am producig a Ready-to-Eat Food? The Regulatio defies a ready-to-eat food as: food iteded by the producer or the maufacturer for direct huma cosumptio without the eed for cookig or other processig effective to elimiate or reduce to a acceptable level micro-orgaisms of cocer. I determiig whether a food is ready-toeat or ot, the maufacturer or producer must cosider whether the food will be: 1) cooked, 2) reheated, or 3) processed before cosumptio i a way that will elimiate or reduce to a acceptable level microorgaisms of cocer. See Figure 1: Decisio Tree 1) Food Iteded to be Cooked A food which the maufacturer or producer iteds to be cooked before cosumptio is ot cosidered readyto-eat whe placed o the market, if it is labelled with cookig istructios (time/temperature combiatio) which have bee validated to esure the microorgaisms of cocer will be elimiated or reduced to a acceptable level. For some foods ambiguity could arise over whether they eed to be cooked or ot. These foods should be cosidered ready-to-eat uless cookig istructios are provided, regardless of whether they are sold loose or pre-packaged. See Labellig Cookig Istructio. 2) Food Iteded to be Reheated If the maufacturer or processor iteds reheatig to be carried out for palatability purposes, rather tha to elimiate microbiological risk, this food (whether pre-packaged or loose) is cosidered ready-to-eat whe placed o the market. 3) Foods Iteded for Further Processig If the maufacturer iteds the food to go for further processig i the food chai which would be effective to elimiate or reduce to a acceptable level the microorgaisms of cocer (for example, sterilisatio or pasteurisatio) this food would ot be cosidered readyto-eat whe placed o the market. I Additio There are evirometal moitorig requiremets for food busiess operators that maufacture ready-to-eat foods that may pose a Listeria moocytogees risk for public health. Furthermore, the requiremets for determiig a appropriate shelf-life are particularly importat for ready-to-eat foods that are able to support the growth of L. moocytogees ad that may pose a L. moocytogees risk for public health. See Regulatio ad Guidace for details o page 11.

15 Will the food be cooked prior to cosumptio, e.g. by cosumer, caterer etc? Yes No Has the cookig step bee validated to esure the micro-orgaisms of cocer are elimiated or reduced to a acceptable level? Yes No Is the foodstuff labelled with cookig istructios (time/temperature combiatio?) Yes The food busiess operator is ot meetig their legal obligatio to produce safe food as required by Article 14 of Regulatio 178/2002 Ready-to-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: NOT-readyto-eat No Are cookig istructios a legal requiremet as outlied i Text Box 1? No Could ambiguity arise over whether the foodstuff requires cookig? Yes Ready-to-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: ready-to-eat * Yes The food busiess operator is ot meetig their legal obligatio regardig labellig No Ready-to-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: NOT-ready-to-eat Will the food be reheated prior to cosumptio, e.g. by cosumer, caterer? Yes Readyto-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: ready-to-eat * No Will the food be subjected to further processig i the food chai iteded to elimiate or reduce the microorgaisms of cocer to a acceptable level? e.g. sterilisatio, pasteurisatio Yes No Readyto-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: NOT-readyto-eat Readyto-eat classificatio of the foodstuff whe placed o the market: ready-to-eat.* 11 Reheatig coducted for palatability purposes ad ot for the elimiatio of microbiological risk. * Where a foodstuff is classified as ready-to-eat, the maufacturer must esure the foodstuff complies with the relevat food safety criterio for L. moocytogees. Figure1: Decisio Tree Labellig Cookig Istructios There is a legal requiremet to label cookig istructios o: 1) Miced meat, meat preparatios ad meat products, from all aimal species other tha poultry, iteded to be eate cooked. Article 6 of Commissio Regulatio (EC) No. 2073/2005 states that these foods must be clearly labelled by the maufacturer to iform the cosumer of the eed for thorough cookig prior to cosumptio. This requiremet applies whether the food is sold loose or pre-packaged. For foods sold loose, the istructio ca be supplied by way of a otice at the poit of sale. 2) Pre-packaged food that is iteded to be cooked before cosumptio. Article 11 of Directive 2000/13/EC (relatig to the labellig, presetatio ad advertisig of foodstuffs) requires that istructios for use of a foodstuff shall be idicted i such a way as to eable appropriate use to be made thereof. For example, if a food is iteded to be cooked before cosumptio, cookig istructios must be provided. Although this legal requiremet does ot apply to foods sold loose (otwithstadig Poit 1) it is strogly recommeded that cookig istructios are provided, particularly for foods where there may ambiguity over whether cookig is required or ot. These cookig istructios could be provided through poit of sale otices (whe food is sold to the cosumer) or o the accompayig documetatio (whe food is sold o to aother food busiess). Regulatio ad Guidace Commissio Regulatio (EC) 2073 is available at: FSAI s Guidace Note 26 for food busiess operators o the implemetatio of the Commissio Regulatio (EC) 2073/2005 is available at: FSAI s Guidace Note 18 o validatio of product shelf-life (revisio 1) is available at: Guidelies o samplig the food processig area ad equipmet for the detectio of Listeria moocytogees are available at: For further iformatio, please cotact our Advice-Lie o or ifo@fsai.ie.

16 Recet Publicatios The followig publicatios were recetly produced by the FSAI: Audit of Official Cotrol - Imports of Food of No-aimal Origi ad Corrective Actio Pla Food Supplemets Aide Memoire ad Checklist Guidace Note No. 6: Ifat Formula Labellig (Revisio) Safe Caterig Pack (Revisio) Audit of Caterig Establishmets to Assess Food Allerge Cotrols Guidace o Flavourigs Scietific Recommedatios for a Natioal Ifat Feedig Policy, 2d Editio Best Practice for Ifat Feedig i Irelad A Guide For Healthcare Professioals Audit of Official Cotrols Carried Out at Local Authority Approved Slaughterhouses (Reports for Clare, Galway, Kildare, Kerry ad South Tipperary) E. coli How to Reduce the Risk from Your Farm These publicatios are available o our website at: 1 Editor: Edel Coway Cotributors: Ae Marie Bolad, Judith O Coor Michelle Riblet, Edel Keaveey, Maria Megha ad Siead Murphy Permissio is grated to reproduce iformatio cotaied herei with appropriate credit. FSAI: Abbey Court, Lower Abbey Street, Dubli 1 Tel: (01) Fax: (01) ewsletter@fsai.ie Website: Mailig List FSAINews is a resource for all public health professioals, researchers, food scietists, food hygieists ad quality cotrol persoel workig i food safety. We would like to esure that ayoe who may fid it useful receives a copy. If you thik there is someoe else i your orgaisatio who would beefit from receivig a copy please fill i the form below. You ca also use this form to chage your ow mailig details. Please add the followig perso to your mailig list for future issues: Chage of mailig details: Name Name Job Title Job Title Address Address By By Post By By Post Please retur this completed form to: Ooagh Eustace, Food Safety Authority of Irelad, Abbey Court, Lower Abbey Street, Dubli 1 OR requested chages to oeustace@fsai.ie