Towards a Sustainable Food chain:

Health and consumers aspects

Food SCP Round table - Plenary meetingDespina Spanou, Principal Adviser DG SANCO

21 November 2012 Brussels

Basic principles of the Food policy and current example of SANCO policies

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Consumer and Health perspective on EU Food supply chain

Food policy principlesFood policy principles

I. Access Economic means and rights to use

II. Available Quality and safety to use

III. Adequate Environmental and health impact of use

IV. Acceptable Consumer willingness to use

I.1 Access – economic means or right to use food

• EU consumers spend on average less than 16 per cent of their monthly income on food, however, with large variations between member states.

• Estimates suggest that over 40 million people in Europe cannot afford an adequate diet. In 2010, 23% of the EU population were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

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Final consumption expenditure of households for food and non-alcoholic beverages, 2009

EU agriculture and consumer price developments in the dairy market(Jan 2000 – Sept 2012, Jan 2000 = 100)

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I.2 Availability – safe and secure food supplies

• Ensuring sufficient safe and healthy food through secure supplies was one of the original European goals in the area of agriculture and food (CAP).

• Focus on more resilient production systems incorporating the principle of prevention – biosecurity in animal husbandry; integrated crop management for plant production.

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I.2 Availability – safe and secure food supplies

• Further threats to food supplies are posed by population growth, climate change and the scarcity of resources.

• In the past 40 years, temperatures have risen by nearly 2 degrees in Europe's South-West region. It is estimated that a 2 degree temperature increase would lead to a potential 20 to 30% decrease in water availability in the European Union's vulnerable regions.

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Cost of outbreak: • Losses from harmful organisms have been estimated to

be attributable for 30% to new pests and diseases. On a global scale, losses would be 50–80% in the absence of control measures

• estimate annual economic losses for the EU of approximately 10 billion € caused by already introduced alien insects

Cost of prevention: • EU budget available to the plant health regime has

increased from 1 to 12 million € (for 2011)

EX: Prevention in plant healthEX: Prevention in plant health

I.3 Adequacy – healthy and environmentally sound food

• Food consumption patterns are constantly evolving, reflecting changing lifestyles and consumer choices. Diets have become more diverse and substantial over recent decades.

• Partial shift in recent years away towards diets richer in energy and fat, triggering a rise in over-weight and obesity.

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I.3 Adequacy – healthy and environmentally sound food

• Malnutrition arises in two forms, with both undernourished and overweight individuals lacking food of high nutritional quality, essential for good health.

• This dual burden of malnutrition is evidenced by one billion of the world's population suffers from undernourishment, more than 1.4 billion adults overweight, of which half a billion are obese.

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Health andConsumers

Health andConsumers

EU Strategy on Nutrition,

Overweight and Obesity-

related health issues

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EX: EU Strategy on Nutrition

1. Source: Preparatory Study on Food Waste across EU 27 BIO IS/DG ENV 2010

EX: Food wasteAnnual food waste in EU27 is estimated to 179 kg per capita for manufacturing, retail, catering and households sectors combined1.

I.4 Acceptability – willingness to eat healthy food

• Requires sufficient knowledge, information and skills to make healthy choices.

• Provided for by consumer education and information through effective labelling

• Production systems that ensure diversity, quality and cultural acceptance, and which preserve local traditions and diets.

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I.4 Regulation on Food Information to Consumers

• Nutrition labelling becomes mandatory, in order to:

• encourage healthier dietary choices by consumers

• encourage the food industry to reformulate products

EX: Food information regulation

• Regulation on food information to consumers was agreed November 2011 by EU institutions.

• The provision of information on allergens is of particular importance to consumer health. 70% of anaphylactic events occur in restaurants or other eating places outside of the home.

• Member States may adopt rules tailor made to the specificities of the sector concerned.

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EX: FOOD LABELLING

A behavioural science study on the presentation and provision of food information to consumers will be launched end 2012

Objectives of the study:•understand how consumers use information for their choices and to identify optimal presentation of the information•provide robust evidence to inform the implementation of the new Regulation on food information to consumers

SANCO mission is to …

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… ensure that all food placed on the market is safe

… empower the consumer to make informed choices

… foster the competitiveness of the Food sector

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/food/food/index_en.htm