EFSA to Provide Scientific Advice on Sugar Intake; FDF reacts

EFSA will provide scientific advice on the daily intake of added sugar in food by early 2020. The authority aims to establish a science-based cut-off value for daily exposure to added sugars from all sources which is not associated with adverse health effects.

The work will be carried out following a request from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Added sugars from all sources comprise sucrose, fructose, glucose, starch hydrolysates such as glucose syrup, high-fructose syrup, and other sugar preparations consumed as such or added during food preparation and manufacturing. The adverse health effects under consideration will include body weight, glucose intolerance and insulin sensitivity, Type-2-diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, as well as dental caries. In its assessment, EFSA will look at the general healthy population, including children, adolescents, adults and the elderly.

The advice will guide member states when establishing recommendations for the consumption of added sugars and in planning food-based dietary guidelines.
Sweden is coordinating the request to EFSA on behalf of the five Nordic countries. Annica Sohlström, the director general of the Swedish National Food Agency, said: “We welcome EFSA’s acceptance of the mandate which reflects the need to scientifically evaluate the links between added sugar and health at a European level.”
EFSA will establish an ad-hoc working group with expertise in dietary exposure, epidemiology, human nutrition, diet-related chronic diseases and dentistry. The five Nordic countries that initiated this mandate will be invited to the working group as observers.

EFSA will use its established methodology to develop a protocol on how to carry out the assessment. Known as Prometheus – PROmoting METHods for Evidence Use in Scientific assessments – the method shows how EFSA selects evidence, how this evidence contributes to the risk assessment and how EFSA reports on the entire process and it results.
Looking ahead to the launch of the Sugar Reduction Programme by Public Health England, Tim Rycroft, corporate affairs director at the Food and Drink Federation – the voice of food and drink manufacturers, said:“We have said consistently that a 20% sugar reduction by 2020 across all foods covered won’t be technically possible or acceptable to UK consumers. Instead, we believe the success of this work will hinge on the level of sustained engagement coming from the entire food industry. That’s why the involvement of all players – manufacturers, retailers and out of home operators – is so crucial to securing public support for the level of change we’re being asked to make. Responsible companies will work with Public Health England to lower sugars in recipes and, where that isn’t technically possible or acceptable to consumers, to lower portion sizes and encourage switching to lower-sugars alternatives.”