What makes a food product a healthy or unhealthy product? Are processed foods less healthy than non-processed foods? And, what’s the difference between processed and ultra-processed foods? The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) explored these and more at their processed foods symposium on 24.11.2020.The symposium also considered the role of processed foods within a healthy and sustainable diet.

This symposium included presentations about front-of-pack labelling schemes (e.g. Nutri-Score and NOVA), and effects of food on our physical and mental wellbeing as well as the science behind food processing. Two of the take-home messages were that ultra-processed food stuffs are usually more calorie-dense and, in general, food portions are significantly larger now than 50 years ago.

Read more about the symposium here

EUFIC is a non-profit organisation, established in 1995, which aims to provide engaging science-based information to inspire and empower healthier and more sustainable food and lifestyle choices.

EuroFIR is a Member of EUFIC and Paul Finglas (Managing Director) joined their Executive Board in November 2020.

Since the new European Commission took office last year, a wide range of health policies have been launched. This healthcare summit, organised by POLITICO, considered several important topics including Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, sharing of health data across the European Union, rare diseases research, and lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic as well as innovation in the pharmaceutical industry and potential medicines shortages.

The main takeaways were:

• 40% of cancer are preventable, so more investment in prevention is key
• Data protection must be ensured in partnership with data sharing
• European Commission is moving towards a EU health data space

More information about the outcomes of this summit are available here

A round-table organised by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) to explore the different front-of-package options within Farm-to-Fork Strategy

European Union citizens are getting fatter with more than half either overweight or obese. Excess weight is a risk factor for other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including high blood pressure, itself a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), type 2 diabetes and, potentially, increased risk of complications associated with COVID-19. Eating a healthy diet and regular exercise are two key elements in controlling weight. Yet, spotting healthy products is tricky. To help consumers, and acknowledging that the detailed nutrition information is not readily understood during the weekly shop, a variety of so-called front-of-pack labelling schemes have been developed by governments and the food industry with the intention to make selecting foods within a health diet easier.

With Farm-to-Fork, the European Commission is exploring front-of-pack labels with the aim to make one mandatory scheme EU-wide. Nutri-Score, classifying products from A (good) to E (no so good), has already been implemented in Belgium, France, and Germany, and is in the spotlight for European policymakers. However, like all the schemes, Nutri-Score is far from perfect (assigning a food as good or bad is highly nuanced) and has both supporters and detractors.

BEUC hosted the second #ConsumerDebate to explore Nutri-Score from the consumer perspective with representatives from the European Commission DG SANTE, the German EU Presidency, Delhaize and Nestlé, and national consumer groups.

Find out more about Nutri-Score here.

BEUC is an umbrella organisations, founded in 1962, which is based in Brussels (BE), bringing together 45 European consumer organisations from 32 countries.

Following a review of the EuroFIR Discussion Groups (DGs), we intended to streamline operations and widen the range of topics and participation.

Currently, there are five DGs (Documentation, Laboratory Analysis, Branded Foods, Recipe Calculation, and the FoodCASE). These topics reflect issues that were identified as important when the DGs were launched. They are still relevant but primarily to food composition data compilers. We believe there are topics and questions that are of general interest to the wider EuroFIR Membership and, currently, the Membership is missing out on the benefits of DG activities.

To avoid overlap between DGs, and facilitate broader discussions, we will create one EuroFIR Discussion Group for all EuroFIR members. The FoodCASE User Group will continue to operate separately, as it does now, although FoodCASE User Group members will also be members of the EuroFIR Discussion Group.

Current DGs topics will continue within the new EuroFIR Discussion Group with group leaders supporting these. Discussions are largely by email, with meetings and workshops arranged as necessary in response to Member interest (e.g., EuroFIR Food Forum, Protein Calculation workshop).

EuroFIR Discussion Group (persistent) topics will be:

• Documentation, led by Susanne Westenbrink (RIVM, NL), Monica Hauger Carlsen (UIO, NO)
• Branded Foods, led by Patrizia Gnagnarella (IEO, IT) and Maria Kapsokefalou (AUA, GR)
• Recipe Calculation, led by Katja Sandfuchs (MRI, DE) and Mark Roe (EuroFIR, BE)
• Laboratory Analysis, led by Helena Costa (INSA, PT) and Mark Roe (EuroFIR, BE)

We hope that the EuroFIR Discussion Group will identify other issues that are important to Members, and additional meetings and workshops can be arranged to facilitate further discussion. However, not all discussions need to be about “big problems” and Members are welcome to ask questions for input from more experienced colleagues.

We hope that EuroFIR Members will benefit from being more aware of discussions and the opportunity to raise a broader range of issues. There will also be opportunities for Members to discuss collaborative approaches to proposals and projects.

Examples of topics that could be discussed within the EuroFIR Discussion Group include:

• Issues related to compilation of food composition datasets
• Use of food composition data (including nutrients, bioactive compounds, and contaminants)
• Food consumption data
• Other food and nutrition related datasets
• Nutrition related research related to compilation or use of food information data
• Training and dissemination activities/ opportunities relevant to EuroFIR
• Collaboration opportunities with or facilitated by EuroFIR

Both the EuroFIR Discussion and the FoodCASE User Groups will operate under Office365, allowing easy access to information via emails as well as SharePoint file storage, which will be organised into topic folders and documents. All Members will have access to the group emails and documents. Access to group emails is managed by adding the Inbox to your email management software.

Initially, all EuroFIR Members will be added to the EuroFIR Discussion Group, but you can choose to leave at any time (or indeed be re-included), although we would like to think participation is useful and informative and we aim to be inclusive. Please use the group to open discussions on any topic you want to share, raise questions, or ask for opinions. The group will be the starting point for continued collaboration and make progress towards EuroFIR and Members’ organisations goals.

If you have any questions about the groups or set up to receive the emails or access the EuroFIR SharePoint files, contact the EuroFIR Secretariat ([email protected]).

TURNTABLE Kick Off Meeting

17-18 September 2019, Sassari (Italy) 

TURNTABLE aims to address the challenge of maintaining vitality and physical wellness amongst older adults (65 years and over) though an extendable one-stop-shop ICT platform (TURNTABLE). As we age, we tend to be more sedentary, less active, and less willing to engage with new technologies. These trends worsen normal age-related decline, both physical and cognitive. Thus, users will be involved at all stages in platform development including selection of components, integration and adaptation to user needs.

EuroFIR AISBL is responsible for Task 1.2 – Co-creation sessions execution (WP1), which aims to ensure design and content of TURNTABLE is optimal. We will recruit volunteers to help, organise sessions, and follow-up with participants in Belgium.

EuroFIR is also leading Task 5.3 – Impact-oriented dissemination (WP5), which aims to raise awareness of TURNTABLE and help with recruitment of users for both the co-creation sessions and field-trials. We will manage the project webpage, social media account, and be involved in development and delivery of the communication and dissemination plan for the project.

In September, project partners met in beautiful Sassari (IT) for a two-days face-to-face meeting to discuss the detailed activity planning. Many crucial decisions were taken, a Steering Committee appointed, and Deliverables assigned to beneficiaries.

Read more about TURNTABLE here