12 Sweeteners for use in foodstuffs
(23664)
10986/02
COM(02) 375
| Draft Directive amending Directive 94/35/EC on sweeteners for use in foodstuffs.
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| Legal base | Article 95 EC; co-decision; qualified majority voting
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| Department | Food Standards Agency
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| Basis of consideration | SEM of 8 May 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 152-xxxviii (2001-02), paragraph 9 (16 October 2002)
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| To be discussed in Council | 19 May 2003
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
12.1 As we noted in our Report of 16 October 2002, the Commission
proposed in July 2002 that two new substances should be added
to the approved list of sweeteners under Council Directive 94/35/EC,
and that the conditions of use for two currently permitted sweeteners
should be modified. In particular, the authorisation of cyclamate
in five categories of confectionery with no added sugar would
be withdrawn, and its permitted use in soft drinks reduced from
400 to 350 mg/litre.
12.2 As cyclamates had been banned in the UK between 1970 and
1995, and had only recently reappeared in soft drinks on the market,
this last proposal reflected concerns over intake levels in other
Member States. However, we were told by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State at the Department of Health (Ms Hazel Blears) that the
Food Standards Agency was awaiting the results of a new survey
to determine whether UK consumers were at risk from the sort of
intakes elsewhere. We therefore said that, before taking a view
on the proposal, we would like to see the results of this survey
and of the wider consultation exercise which the Government had
set in train.
Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum of 8 May 2003
12.3 In her supplementary Explanatory Memorandum of 8 May 2003,
the Minister says that, at its first reading of the proposal,
the European Parliament's Environment Committee recommended that
the maximum level for cyclamate should be lowered to 250mg/litre
in soft drinks, a figure which had also been put forward as a
compromise by the then Danish Presidency after discussions within
a Council working group had proved inconclusive. However, at its
plenary session on 10 April, the European Parliament had opted
for a level of 100 mg/litre.
12.4 The Minister then draws attention to the survey by the Food
Standards Agency referred to in our earlier Report, the results
of which are now available. These suggest that, although average
daily intakes of cyclamate in the UK were nearly 40% below the
acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 7 mg/kg, the intake of high-level
consumers[28] (at the
proposed maximum cyclamate level of 350 mg/litre) was nearly double
that amount. Consequently, although it is stressed that ADIs are
set on a precautionary basis to protect the most sensitive individuals,
and are not a threshold above which harmful effects will occur,
a Regulatory Impact Assessment which the Minister has also provided
concludes that a reduction in the maximum permitted level of cyclamate
is nevertheless required to prevent high-level consumers from
exceeding the ADI. (However, it also points out that cyclamates
are thought to be used in the UK by only one soft drinks producer
with a market share of less than 10%.)
12.5 The Assessment also discusses the respective merits of the
100 mg/litre limit favoured by the European Parliament, and the
250 mg/litre which has emerged from discussions in the Council.
It says that, at the lower figure, even high-level consumers of
drinks containing cyclamate would be very unlikely to exceed the
ADI. However, according to the Assessment, the Commission has
already rejected the Parliament's proposal, other Member States
are highly unlikely to agreed to a lower limit at this stage,
and the industry has said that it would be necessary to replace
cyclamate with other, more costly sweeteners (and, as a result,
to change product labels). Consequently, although 250 mg/litre[29]
is above the limit required to ensure that the majority of high-level
consumers do not exceed the ADI, the Government is proposing to
agree to the Presidency compromise at this stage, in order to
ensure that the proposal is not blocked. At the same time, however,
it will seek to obtain a commitment from the Commission to review
the latest research, and aims to use the results of the Food Standards
Agency survey to make the case at the second reading of the proposal
for a 200 mg/litre limit.
Conclusion
12.6 We are grateful to the Minister for
this further information, which sheds light on the current situation
regarding cyclamate use within the UK. We have noted that it seems
likely that the present maximum Community limit will fall from
400 mg/litre at least to 250 mg/litre, and that, in supporting
this figure for essentially tactical reasons, the Government will
be seeking to achieve
an eventual limit of no more than 200 mg/litre.
Since this approach reflects the findings of the recent Food Standards
Agency survey, we see no reason to maintain a scrutiny reserve,
and we are therefore now clearing the proposal.
28 Defined as those drinking five or more glasses of
squash containing cyclamate each day. Back
29
At this level, they would be consuming about 33% more than the
recommended ADI. Back
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