Nutrition on the Internet

Citation

Stephen Fallows, D. (1999), "Nutrition on the Internet", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 99 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.1999.01799bag.001

Nutrition on the Internet

Introduction

Following the in-depth review of the FAO Web site in the last edition, this article will revert to pattern and will provide a pick and mix of sites; these sites focus on different issues and are derived from a wide range of perspectives.

As is usual with all matters concerning the Internet, readers are reminded to note very carefully the origins of the data supplied by this route; it must be recognised that seemingly very credible materials can be assembled and presented as a web site with relative ease.

Care must be made even when following links from sites with first-class credentials. The following advice is always worth repeating:

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  The next step away from a first-class site (and certainly be wary of subsequent steps) might be to materials which are not subject to any recognised and professionally-based judgement. When reading the information provided always try to establish why it exists ­ why did an organisation make it available on the Internet?

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  Note that there is tremendous variation in the importance of items which are made available ­ certain items are there as part of the opening of Governmental and other agencies to provide an accessible record of documents of record. For instance, the European Commission provides details of the meetings of its Scientific Committee for Food and uses the Internet for the very rapid publication of the outcomes of that (and other) Committee's deliberations. Such documents have significant status within the area of policy to which they refer.

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  Some materials presented via the Internet might be the mere whim of someone whom you, as reader, might regard as either an out-and-out crank or perhaps a single concerned individual with a valid but alternative view. (In sales law there is the advice of caveat emptor ­ the principle that the buyer must bear the risk for the quality of goods purchased; this principle is particularly relevant in the context of information and other materials available via the Internet.)

Taking the above advice into account, it should be noted that this series of Internet reviews tends to focus on those sites operated by official bodies, governmental agencies and other reputable bodies; in any instances where the author believes the site to include materials of a questionable nature or potentially skewed nature, this will be pointed out ­ but, of course, this inevitably will reflect a personal judgement and perspective with which individual readers may disagree.

Web site reviews

United States Food and Drugs Administration

In the United States, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has responsibility for several of the functions which it has been suggested are intended to lie with the new Food Standards Agency (see Internet reviews in Nutrition and Food Science, No. 3, 1998).

The FDA styles itself as "the [US] nation's foremost consumer protection agency" and its Web site is organised to provide information to both consumers and professionals. The home page includes links to special information for the following groups:

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  consumers;

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  industry;

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  health professionals;

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  state and local officials;

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  educators;

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  women;

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  teens.

The home page also provides links to a very extensive site index which allows access to an alphabetically organised list of topics. Several topics are subdivided to allow for particularly focused access to a wealth of information on the FDA, its functions and the issues addressed.

An alternative route to the information provided on the FDA Web site is through a search facility.

The URL for the FDA home page is http://www.fda.gov/fdahomepage.html

The FDA Web site is also available in a text only format; this format allows for speedier access to the information since the particularly large graphics files are not transferred. The URL for the text version is http://www.fda.gov/hometext.html.

US FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is based in Washington, DC; its programme areas (areas of responsibility) include:

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  Biotechnology.

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  Dietary supplements.

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  Food additives.

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  Food borne illness.

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  Food labelling and nutrition.

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  Food imports, exports, inspections, recalls and HACCP.

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  Pesticides and chemical contaminants.

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  Seafood.

The home page provides links to each of these programme areas. It also, as with the general FDA site, provides links to information to provide particularly targeted information for consumers, food industry, educators and health and regulatory officials at local and state levels.

Of interest in the context of the development of the functions of the proposed FSA are the links which provide detailed information on:

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  How to comment on proposed regulations and submit petitions.

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  How to request information.

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  How to obtain Federal Register documents.

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  How to obtain FDA Food and Cosmetic Guidance Documents.

If the FSA is to meet the objectives set out in the White Paper, it will be necessary to offer a similarly easy access to information.

The URL for the CFSAN is http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/

Food Safety and Inspection Service

The FSIS is a part of the United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA); it is the public health agency responsible for ensuring the safety, wholesomeness, correct labelling and proper packaging of meat, poultry and egg products as required by US legislation.

The FSIS Web site provides access to detailed information on:

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  The agency's mission and activities.

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  FSIS publications.

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  Consumer education and information.

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  Organisation of FSIS and its programme areas.

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  HACCP implementation.

An updating provision is included through both a news and information section and a "what's new?" section.

The URL is http://www.usda.gov/agency/ fsis/homepage/htm

Summaries of EU food directives

SCAD (Community System for Accessing Documentation ­ the acronym derives from the French original) has (since January 1998) been posting summaries of the EU legislation which relates to the control of foodstuffs onto the Europa database. The summaries contain for each set of measures the following information:

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  Objective.

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  Community measures.

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  Contents of the measures.

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  Deadlines for implementation in the member states.

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  Dates of entry into force (if different from the above).

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  References in the Official Journal.

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  Follow up work to be undertaken.

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  Commission implementing measures.

The summaries may be accessed via the EU's Europa Database the URL for which is http://europa.eu.int/geninfo/query-en.htm

The following are examples of specific summaries:

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  Foodstuffs for particular nutritional uses (a 1989 directive) see URL http://europa/eu.int/comm/sg/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/121100.htm

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  Additives other than colours and sweeteners (a 1995 directive) see URL http://europa/eu.int/comm/sg/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/121070a.htm

The .../en/... in the above URL denotes publication in English. It should be noted that the above information is available in each of the EU official languages and these may be accessed by substituting the relevant code letters.

It must be noted that the European Commission is working through a substantial "back catalogue" of directives and it will be some time before each and every current directive or regulation is available on this database.

House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee Report on food safety ­ Government response

In April 1998, the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee published a report on food safety (see Internet review in Nutrition and Food Science, No. 5, 1998).

The Government has now prepared a response to the report and this has been published by The Stationery Office. The response provides a comment on each of the recommendations made by the Select Committee in its report.

In general, the Government welcomes politely each of the recommendations and in most instances the opportunity is taken to provide additional comment either to clarify current policy or to indicate where action is already planned or in place.

It is intended that this response be read alongside the original report and the current volume does not include any background to the issues which led the Committee to make its recommendations.

The report (4th Report from the Agriculture Committee for Parliamentary Session 1998-9) is posted to the Internet at the following URL: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-ffice.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmagric/889/88902.htm

House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee report on Vitamin B6 supplements

During 1997, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) reported on the safety aspects of the levels of vitamin B6 in certain dietary supplements. The COT concluded that dietary supplements should provide a daily dose of no more than 10mg and this was supported by the Food Advisory Committee.

The COT advice/FAC support led directly to the development of proposals for legislation.

However, strong opposition from health food manufacturers and individual consumers (involving many thousands of letters) led the House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee to consider the issues; this Committee has now reported (the full report including evidence submitted is available from The Stationery Office).

The Select Committee concluded that the proposed draft regulations should be withdrawn pending consideration of the issues by the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals which was established early in 1998.

The main text of the Select Committee Report (5th Report for the 1997-98 Parliamentary Session) is posted to the Internet at the following URL: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cm199798/cmselect/cmagric/753/75302.htm

The matter of concern about vitamin B6 in certain supplements arises because of the considerable discrepancy between the quantities in these supplements and the recognised daily requirements; some supplements contain vitamin B6 at levels which are reported to lead to neurological disorders.

House of Commons Agriculture Select Committee report on Vitamin B6 supplements ­ Government response

On 23 June 1998, the House of Commons Select Committee on Agriculture published its views on this issue (see above). This report was referred to extensively in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on 24 June 1998 which had been timetabled to coincide with the end of the consultation period (26 June 1998) on the Government's proposed legislative response to the COT recommendations.

On 30 July 1998, a Parliamentary announcement was made of the Government's decision to defer any introduction of legislation (see above) concerning the levels of Vitamin B6 in dietary supplements which takes up many of the points raised by the Select Committee

The Government has now published a formal response to the Select Committee which includes a discussion of the decision to defer any introduction of controls until after the publication of the forthcoming report from the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals as recommended by the Select Committee.

The official record of the House of Commons adjournment debate on 24 June 1998 is available via the main UK Parliament web site; the URL is http://www.parliament.uk/

The full URL for the Government response (7th Report from the Agriculture Committee for 1997-8) is http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmagric/1083/108202.htm

Since all three of the Select Committee Reports (above) have complex URLs it is often easier to reach these documents via the main Parliamentary site.

MAFF Food Technology Unit

The Food Technology Unit is a division of MAFF which seeks to improve and promote future efficiency and competitiveness of the UK food industry by providing Government support for pre-competitive research involving the academic community and industry.

The FTU administers a number of research initiatives including the food LINK programme; it is also the principal UK point of contact for the FLAIR-FLOW Europe programme referred to above.

The URL for further information is http://www.maff.gov.uk/aboutmaf/contacts/ftu.htm

EU Consumer Policy and Consumer Health Protection

DG24 of the European Commission has established a web site which offers a straightforward access to current and recent documents relating to consumer policy and consumer health protection. The site is organised in reverse date order and the URL given below leads directly to the general "What's New" section.

The Web site primarily provides links to:

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  Minutes of the Scientific Committees (including the Scientific Committee for Food).

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  Scientific Opinion considered by the Scientific Committees.

The URL is http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg24/index.htm

If you have identified a Web site likely to be of interest to readers of Nutrition and Food Science please contact the author of this series of articles as follows:

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  by e-mail to stephen.fallows@luton.ac.uk

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  by fax to 01234 766926 or 01582 743237

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  by post at the University of Luton

Dr Stephen FallowsReader in Educational DevelopmentUniversity of Luton