On 6 May 2021, The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its long-awaited safety assessment of titanium dioxide (TiO2) used as a food additive (E171)[1]. The assessment clearly underlines that TiO2 (nano)particles have the potential to induce DNA stand breaks and chromosomal damage – thus, the agency stated that a concern for genotoxicity could not […]
Today, SAFE together with 23 civil society organisation called on the ENVI and AGRI Committees of the European Parliament through a joint letter detailing 10 priorities to support an ambitious EP INI report on the Farm to Fork Strategy. Read the full joint letter here.
The investigative journalist Valia Ahchieva published a video showing a sad reality in Bulgaria: The Mocap, a plant protection product containing an ingredient banned by the EU is not only used, but subsidised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture. The ethoprophos contained in this “Mocap” is a highly toxic substance and is used in potatoes […]
The recently published report “Destruction: Certified” by Greenpeace claims that many certification schemes, covering cocoa, coffee, biofuels, palm oil, soy, and wood, enable “destructive business to continue as usual”. The NGO concludes that “certification is a weak tool to address global forest and ecosystem destruction”. However, palm oil advocates considered the report as an attack […]
In one of his first public speeches, the Italian newly appointed environment minister, Roberto Cingolani, claimed that “the amount of animal protein consumed should be decreased and replaced with plant-based alternatives” to support the ecological transition. He also pointed out that animal protein requires six times as much water to produce as the same amount […]
A recent study conducted by the Open University of Catalonia found that advertising of food targeting children is an important factor leading to the increase of childhood obesity rate in Spain. The study analyses 355 advertisements from 117 different products on various media channels in Spain, including the internet, television, radio, print, and outdoor advertising. […]
On 22 February 2021, 21 NGOs including SAFE called on the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to reject the 171th and 72th Amendment of the European Parliament in the CMO trilogues. Amendment 171 would introduce unnecessary restrictions on the labelling of plant-based dairy products. Amendment 72 would introduce legal uncertainty that […]
On 10 February 2021, a cross-party coalition of 31 MEPs sent a letter to Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, highlighting the misleading use of the term “natural” on food packaging. The MEPs urged the European Commission to tackle this issue by developing a clear definition of “natural” and stringent legislation to regulate the […]
The EU food safety agency EFSA will provide scientific opinions to help developing the EU-wide system for front-of-pack nutrition labelling of foodstuffs, including setting conditions for nutrition and health claims on foods. This includes the setting of nutrient profiles to restrict the promotion of food high in, for example, salt, sugars and/or fat. Read SAFE’s […]
The European Commission has taken its first steps towards launching a ‘code of conduct’ for actors along the food chain, as part of its aim to increase the sustainability of the food system. This sustainable code of conduct was much awaited since the publication of the Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal. […]