EFSA seeks comments on assessment approach for sugars in food

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is seeking feedback on the approach it plans to take for its upcoming assessment of dietary sugars. The aim of the assessment is to establish a cut-off value for intake of “free” sugars that is not associated with adverse health effects.

Free sugars comprise monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose) and disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, maltose, trehalose) added to foods by manufacturers or consumers plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates. The health effects under consideration will include micronutrient intake and status, body weight and obesity, glucose homeostasis and type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors and diseases, liver function, and dental caries.

The advice—requested by the national food authorities of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden—will help European Union Member States to establish recommendations on the consumption of free sugars and to plan food-based dietary guidelines.

“This is an important and complex piece of work, which is why we want to give our stakeholders and members of the public the opportunity to comment on our approach before we start the assessment,” said Dominique Turck, chair of EFSA’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). “We are looking forward to receiving comments and suggestions from across the scientific community that will help us to optimize both the transparency and the methodological rigor of this assessment.”

Specifically, the NDA would like feedback on a drafted protocol to define the methods for collecting data (which data to use for the assessment and how to identify and select them); appraising the relevant evidence; and analyzing and integrating the evidence to draw conclusions that will form the basis of the scientific opinion.

Comments will be accepted until March 4, 2018.

Press release