Food information and composition

The objective of the present programme is to spread knowledge and best practices in relation with general food labelling and claims as well as on specific categories of foods such as food supplements, foods with added vitamins and minerals and foods for specific groups of the population food composition and information, as per the requirements of the EU Food Law. The contract requests the provision of training courses addressing the latest developments, as well as in the implementation of controls.

The objective of this training course is to share good practices and harmonise the implementation among EU Member States of the official controls on food Labelling and to inform non-EU countries.

During the course, attendees will look at the food information regulations in detail and experience a number of training situations to explore the regulations. FIC is a horizontal legislation and covers all areas where food is supplied to the consumer. The food retail market is both enormous and vibrant. There are thousands of new food products presented to the EU market every year. The course cannot cover all food products completely. Attendees will therefore role play different situations and products to which the regulations apply. The aim is for participants to learn lessons and to help develop a consistent approach to enforcement with colleagues from other member states.


Objectives

The BTSF Training Programme on Food information and composition overall objectives are:

Food Information and Legislation:

  • In the course, the participants will experience active learning involvements which the team have developed from the experience of the tutors over the previous BTSF programme on FCI. The FCI is detailed in some areas and these details can help in explaining the requirements of the regulations in other areas. The tutors will develop scenarios using their experience in the field and help the participants address the issues and expand their knowledge. The participants can also develop this approach to learning as they will also be able to come with their own ideas and labelling issues and use the expertise of those on the course to develop a more consistent approach to address these local issues thrown up by the FCI.

Nutrition and Health Claims:

  • The objective of the training is to improve the knowledge of participants in the field of nutrition and health claims and to exchange information and experiences between officials of the different Member States, in particular concerning the proper enforcement of the Regulation. The aim of the sessions is to explain the variety of claims defined in Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and under which conditions these claims are allowed to be used. Furthermore, the different procedures for the authorization of health claims, the rules for trademarks and brand names which can be regarded as nutrition or health claims and the labelling requirements will be discussed

Food fortification and Food Supplement:

  • The objective of this training course is to harmonise as much as possible the interpretations of relevant European FCI regulations on food supplements and fortified foods and to share good practices on their implementation among EU Member States, giving consideration to the specificities of these particular food products

Food for Specific Groups:

  • The objective of the section on Foods for Specific Groups (FSG) is to ensure a common understanding, interpretation and enforcement of the rules covering these products.
  • The rules applicable to these products are in a transition period. They are also interconnected with rules applicable to other categories of foods such as food supplements and ordinary foods. The change from the wider concept of foods for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTS) or dietetic foods with the abolition of the category as such is a very important change. The rationale of this change will be explained with reference to abuses that had been identified in the past, in particular those relating to abusive labelling practices that resulted in and may continue to create confusion about the legal identity or categorisation of products that could be FSGs, particularly Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs), food supplements or ordinary foods with claims.

Content

The course addresses the following topics:

  • Food Information and Legislation
  • Regulation on the Provision of Food Information to Consumers (1169/2011)
  • Lectures with all the slides used
  • Delegating and Implementing acts made under 1169/2011
  • List of EU legislation with further labelling provisions
  • Guidance produced by the Commission on food labelling provisions, including the infographic on food information and the tolerances for nutrition labelling.
  • Commission’s Q&A on 1169/2011
  • Nutrition and Health Claims
  • Nutrition and health claims and how to apply official controls on this matter
  • Objectives of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006
  • Role of the European Commission and EFSA
  • Examples of some exercises with solutions
  • Food fortification and Food Supplement
  • Consumer information legislation and practice on food supplements and fortified foods
  • Definitions of food supplements and fortified foods and their market importance
  • Relevant EU regulations
  • Examples of some exercises with solutions
  • Food for Specific Groups
  • Legislation on Food for Specific Groups
  • Labelling requirements for Total Diet Replacement Food and Food for Specific Medical Purpose
  • Labelling requirements regarding for Baby Food products

Target audience

The selection criteria for participants are:

  • Relevancy to daily work: participants should in priority be staff of Competent Authorities, with a position related to Official Controls;
  • Sufficient level of language: in order to ensure the transfer of knowledge and opportunities to exchange views, participants should master the language of the training session for which they applied, if not specified otherwise the official language of the workshops will be English.
  • Ability to share their experience: priority will be given to participants whose position will allow them to share with colleagues the outputs of the training sessions.
  • Preferably officers working at food control authorities in a central administration level or local administration level and who are responsible for the development, coordination or implementation of the official monitoring and controls plans.
  • IT requirements: the participants will need a laptop with up-to-date software, with camera and microphone (built in or external) and reliable WIFI connection.

Calendar and locations

Session Start Date End Date location Organiser
13 19/04/2021 23/04/2021 Online AETS
14 17/05/2021 21/05/2021 Online AINIA
15 07/06/2021 11/06/2021 Online AETS
16 05/07/2021 09/07/2021 Online AETS
17 18/10/2021 22/10/2021 Online AETS
18 13/12/2021 17/12/2021 Online AETS
19 07/02/2022 11/02/2022 Online AINIA
20 14/03/2022 18/03/2022 Online AETS
21 25/04/2022  29/04/2022  Online AESA 
22 30/05/2022 03/06/2022  Madrid, Spain   AENOR
23 04/07/2022 08/07/2022  Valencia, Spain AINIA 
 24  31/10/2022  04/11/2022  Bratislava, Slovakia   AETS