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The search returned 3 results.

Food Security and Innovative Tools with a Global Food System Approach journal article

José Pío Beltrán, Francesc Casañas, Ramon Clotet, Yvonne Colomer, Luis González Vaqué, Rosa M Martin-Aranda, Pere Puigdomènech, Ignacio Romagosa

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 16 (2021), Issue 3, Page 202 - 211

The current challenge of agriculture is to ensure sustainability, noting that in the next half century we must produce as much food as in the previous ten thousand years combined. At the same time, we should improve crop resilience, in an unquestionable scenario of climate change. The World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) urges us to achieve food security, which is the situation in which everybody has physical and economic access to sufficient, safe nutritious food at all times, to satisfy their nutritional needs and preferences, in order to lead an active and healthy life. In recent years we have seen an exponential increase in the knowledge of the molecular basis of genetic traits that are important for food production. Some of these technologies have been developed in Europe, and benefit producers from other parts of the world, from whom our countries then import their products for our consumption. It has been possible to increase the micronutrient content of fruit, delay their ripening or incorporate resistance to viruses, fungi and bacteria. Thus, using tools borrowed from bacterial defence mechanisms (CRISPR-Cas9 and derivatives), it is possible to act in a controlled and timely manner on the desired areas of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), as could be the case in the fight against TR4 fungus in the banana. This crop occupies about ten million hectares with an annual production of one-hundred million tons. It is part of the basic diet of four-hundred million people and is cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions constituting the fourth food crop only behind rice, wheat and corn. No fungicide has been found that allows chemical control of the fungus that remains in infected soils for periods exceeding thirty years, so it is urgent to obtain new resistant varieties. This document aims to sensitize society and legislators about the importance of science and technology, with a sustainable global food system approach (availability, policies, economy and culture) to meet the food challenges of the 21st century.


The Front Labelling of Food: Nutritional Traffic Lights, Nutri-Score and Others journal article

Ana Mª Andrés, Marta Arroyo-Izaga, Coral Calvo, Pilar Cervera, Ramon Clotet, Yvonne Colomer, Consuelo Escolástico, Ramon Estruch, Giuseppe Fregapane, Juana Frias, Angel Gil, Luis González Vaqué, Ascensión Marcos, Abel Mariné Font, Emilio Martinez de Vitoria, Gemma Oms, Mª Carmen Ortega, Mª Jesús Periago, Mª Angeles Romero, Mª Dolores Ruiz, Aida Serra, Josep A. Tur, Mª Carmen Vidal

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 16 (2021), Issue 2, Page 104 - 111

The labelling of packaged foods is a universal concern present in the national legislation of most countries. Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on food information provided to the consumer allows the possibility of using a front nutrition label FOPL (Front-of-Pack nutrition label) in a complementary way to the mandatory nutrition information, on a voluntary basis, without replacing it, as long as the requirements mentioned in said Regulation are met, do not mislead the consumer, are not ambiguous or confusing and are based on relevant scientific data. The application of a "front" nutritional label is interesting in principle because it is more visible, unlike the mandatory nutritional label, which is located on the back or side of the packages. However, on the other hand, it can mislead the consumer should they intend to value the product nutritionally apart from the diet as a whole. An effective policy for the health of the citizen must be based on adequate training in food and consumption, starting from school age and reaching to society in general, contemplating the insertion of the variety of products in the variety of possible diets, according to the nutritional needs of the citizen, based on age, sex, lifestyle and sustainability. In this context, front labelling must be integrated into a global strategy to be effective and avoid being counterproductive. This document aims to offer food for thought to people, institutions and companies that have to make decisions regarding food labelling.


Food Classification Report: The Concept ‘Ultra-Processed’ journal article

Carmen Carretero, Ramon Clotet, Yvonne Colomer, Gonzalo García de Fernando, Juana Frías, Juana Frías, Luis González Vaqué, Abel Mariné, Antonio Martínez, Rafael Moreno Rojas, María Jesús Periago, Dolores Rodrigo, Mª Ángeles Romero Rodríguez, Amparo Salvador, Pau Talens Oliag

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 15 (2020), Issue 4, Page 357 - 362

The world population grows with the tendency to concentrate in urban areas. Having food for everyone and correct information on nutrients and diet for everyone is included in the global scope of the United Nations Millennium Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Science and technology play a key role. Recently the term ‘Ultra-processed’ has become fashionable in certain circles related to nutrition. This term is generating a great deal of confusion in certain consumer groups and in the sector of food production, since its interpretation is controversial. This document analyses the reason for this confusion. From a legal point of view, the use of the expression or concept ‘ultra-processed’ by the political or administrative authorities could be sanctioned. In this context, both the European Commission and national governments could take measures to avoid the use of this expression, the proliferation of which confuses the consumer, influencing their purchasing decisions and legal security. Nor can it be overlooked that those companies, whose products are disparaged to potential buyers by this label, may take legal measures to compensate for the damages and loss caused.

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