Current

The working group ?nutritional issues? of the Food Chemical Society (LChG) has been dealing with the subject of tolerances for nutrient fluctuations in nutritional labeling for years. The position paper of the LChG, which was last updated in 2009, has proven itself over the years from the point of view of monitoring and the economy in practice. In December 2012, the European Commission published the ?Guide for Competent Authorities on Setting Tolerances for Labeled Nutritional Values ?. On December 13th, 2014 with the validity of the regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 regarding the information of the consumer about food (LMIV) the guideline is to be applied. The working group welcomes the goal of harmonizing the handling of tolerances for fluctuations in nutritional value across Europe. At the same time, the working group strongly advocates a critical review of the guideline based on initial experience in use and takes the following position:

The guidelines of the European Commission are very complex and differentiate between several cases in the application of the tolerances listed. This makes it very difficult for everyone involved to understand and ultimately use the guidelines in practice. In the opinion of the working group , a simplification would make sense and should be striven for, for example by distinguishing between only two cases - if the aim is not to dispense with setting stricter requirements for foods with nutrition and health claims or fortified foods. Chapter 5.3 in particular is independent of this. in its current form, in some cases for vitamins and minerals, it is simply not applicable in practice.

The working group ?nutritional issues? also points out, based on many years of experience, that from their point of view it is not appropriate to include the measurement uncertainty of the analytical method in the tolerances - at least not as long as the analytical methods are not standardized across Europe. In practice, this means that the specified tolerance ranges can be exhausted or even exceeded due to the measurement uncertainties alone. In such cases there is no longer any room for the actual nutrient fluctuations due to naturally high fluctuation ranges, seasonal variability, degradation of nutrients, etc. That is why the working group ?nutritional issues? of the Food Chemical Society advocates that the measurement uncertainties of the analytical methods be excluded from the tolerances of the guidelines of the EU Commission. The ?nutritional issues? working group of the Food Chemical Society asks the Federal Government to work at European level to ensure that the guidelines are revised accordingly. December 2014

Focus of work

The current focus of work is currently:

 

• Nutritional labeling: including tolerances
• Functional foods
• Nutritional and health claims for food
• Extracts
• Nutrition in communal catering
• Nutritional profiles
• Sports nutrition
• Nanotechnology for food

Position papers

 

• Position paper of the Society for Food Chemistry on the claims "lactose-free" and "low-lactose" (2018) ( pdf ) Appendix ( pdf )
• Dietary fibre: current considerations from a legal and analytical perspective (2012) ( pdf )
• Recommendations on tolerances for nutrient variations in nutritional labelling (2009) ( pdf )
• Recommendations for achieving a needs-based food offering in community catering for seniors (2008) ( pdf )
• Are the terms "nutrition" and "nutrient" changing? (2008) ( pdf )
• Vitamin conversion tables (2006) ( pdf ) (currently under revision)
• Guidelines for the assessment of supplementary balanced diets (2003) ( pdf )
• Statement on nutritional labelling of foodstuffs (2003) ( pdf )
• Statement on fructooligosaccharides and inulin (2003) ( pdf )
• Amendment of the LChG statement on dietary fibre from 1989 ( 2002 )
• Statement on the scientific substantiation of health claims for food products (2002) ( pdf )
• Statement on the labelling of allergenic ingredients in food (2000) ( pdf )
• Statement on nutritional labelling (1992) ( pdf )
• Statement on sports nutrition (1991) ( pdf )

fundamental papers

In order to distinguish between statements by the Executive Board of the LChG (on legislative projects) and position papers (positions formulated by one or more AGs and which are supported by the Board as the position of society as a whole), basic papers contain overviews of specific topics that serve to form opinions and reflect the current state of knowledge.

 

• Measures, products and substances for weight management - a current inventory ( pdf ) ( list of substances ) - July 2015
• Sports nutrition and sports nutrition: A current inventory ( pdf )
• Appendix: Overview of nutrients and other substances with (nutritional) physiological effects that are used in sports nutrition. No statement is made as to their admissibility under food law. ( table )
• Basic paper of the Food Chemical Society on plant extracts in food ( pdf) (Status: April 2022)
  List of further reading Plant extracts ( pdf )

archive

 

• Position paper of the Food Chemical Society on the statements "lactose-free" and "low in lactose" prepared by the " nutritional issues Issues" working group from 2005 ( pdf ).
• Publication replaced by position paper 2018 ( pdf ) Appendix ( pdf )
• A guide to assessing plant extracts in food using the example of secondary plant compounds (2005) ( pdf )

In revision

• Vitamin Conversion Charts (2006) ( pdf )

Contributions to the discussion and information

 

• Status report on "vegetarian and vegan foods" ( pdf ) - December 2017
• D. Schweizer: "Put up for discussion: nutritional profiles - access requirements for nutrition and health claims" ( pdf )
• A. Hahn and A. Ströhler: "Importance of nutritional factors for the acid-base balance - current status of the discussion" ( pdf )