DEFRA have recently published updated guidance on importing composite products into GB. 

By definition, composite products are food products for human consumption that contain both:  

• processed products of animal origin (POAO) 

• plant products 

When you import any food that contains products of animal origin (POAO) such as meat, dairy or eggs, you must follow the guidance for importing animal products for human consumption. 

This additional guidance applies to composite products from EU and non-EU countries and explains which composite products are exempt from import controls and what documents you need for your specific product. 

The guidance can be accessed here 

Researchers from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have analysed thousands of individual threshold data food allergy symptoms held in a database to shed light on the severity of symptoms caused by low doses of allergenic foods.   

The study investigated all symptoms recorded in the TNO-FARRP threshold database occurring at doses ≤ the eliciting dose 10 (≤ED10) for the priority allergenic foods for which population threshold dose distributions have been reported. ED10 is the threshold where up to 10 per cent of allergic individuals exhibit objective symptoms.    

 Almost all of the symptoms in the dose range up to the ED10, and all symptoms in the dose range up to an including the ED05, were mild or moderate and mainly concern subjective or objective symptoms of the skin, eyes or nose, or oral cavity. To a lesser extent, gastro-intestinal or respiratory symptoms were reported. 

The researchers concluded that exposure to doses ≤ ED05 generally results in mild to moderate symptoms for a small subset of allergic individuals.  

Insight into the severity of symptoms at low dose intakes of protein may support decision making and acceptance of harmonized reference doses for Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL). A risk-based approach for applying PAL is widely considered a solution for improved protection of food allergic consumers and better-informed food choices. 

Read the paper in full here  

The Food Additives and Flavourings Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently published a scientific opinion on the re‐evaluation of acesulfame K (E 950) as a food additive.  

Acesulfame K (E 950) is the chemically manufactured compound 6‐methyl‐1,2,3‐oxathiazin‐4(3H)‐one‐2,2‐dioxide potassium salt. It is authorised for use in the European Union (EU) in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008. 

The Panel established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 15 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day based on the highest dose tested without adverse effects in a chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity study in rats; This revised ADI replaces the ADI of 9 mg/kg bw per day established by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) . 

The Panel noted that the highest estimate of exposure to acesulfame K (E 950) was generally below the ADI in all population groups. The Panel recommended the European Commission to consider the revision of the EU specifications of acesulfame K (E 950). 

You can read the scientific opinion in full in the EFSA Journal