Galacto-oligosaccharide Under EU Simplified Approval

FrieslandCampina has applied to the Food Safty Agency (FSA) for Galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) to be approved for use in the European Union (EU) under the simplified approval procedure.

The FSA will present the company’s application dossier to the independent expert committee. Then the committee will wait for comments on the dossier.

FrieslandCampina is requesting an opinion from the FSA on the “equivalence” of one product to a similar product that was already marketed in the EU prior to May 15, 1997.

The European Novel Foods Regulation includes a simplified approval procedure for when a company believes its novel food is substantially equivalent to a food that is already on the market. In such a situation, the applicant can submit a notification to the European Commission after obtaining an opinion on equivalence from an EU member state – in this case the UK.

Galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) is used to describe a group of carbohydrates composed of oligo-galactose with some lactose and glucose molecules. GOS is a food product with prebiotic and immune support properties and has a beneficial effect on the gut’s friendly bacteria. It has an incentive effect on Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. formation, increasing the amount of good bacteria beneficial to health.

Oligosaccharides resembling GOS occur naturally in human milk and may be one of the factors that protect human infants from gastrointestinal disease-causing bacteria. 

The applicant’s Vivinal® GOS PT will be used in the same products as those which were already marketed in the EU prior to 15 May 1997. These include general foodstuffs such as yogurts, muesli bars, pastry, etc. 

In the UK, the assessment of novel foods is carried out by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), an independent committee of scientists appointed by the FSA. Any comments on this application should be emailed to the ACNFP secretariat at acnfp@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk by November 9.