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In the European Union, fats and oils in foods are regulated by laws mainly set at the Union level. EU rules on nutrition and health claims are particularly relevant for some fatty acids. Contrary to structure-function claims in the US, in the EU, such claims have to be authorized before use; in the case of omega-3, along with a nutrition claim, a remarkable number of health claims have been authorised based on the essentiality of such fatty acids. Claims related to environmental, social or ethical concerns are not regulated in detail at the EU level. While claims are voluntary information, mandatory rules on labelling also apply to fatty acids, and sometimes create challenges for food businesses. Another piece of legislation, the novel food regulation, is important for new sources of oils and fats. Its scope includes determining the novel food status of foods, and, if required, submitting an application in order to obtain authorisation. Several sources of fatty acids have been authorized as novel foods. Benefits of a novel food application include legal certainty and protection of data, while costs and particularly the length of the process are the main barriers. An assessment of novel food status should also concern new technologies, such as new delivery mechanisms. While several provisions of EU law concern oils and fats, a 2019 regulation not only imposes a 2 g limit (per 100 g of fat) for trans fats not naturally occurring in animal fats, but also creates an obligation to transfer information in the supply chain.

Introduction Environmental hazards such as ambient air pollution, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), noise, pesticides, and radiation may lead to serious, chronic pathologies. The fetus and infant are particularly vulnerable to [...], BACKGROUND: Developmental periods in early life may be particularly vulnerable to impacts of environmental exposures. Human research on this topic has generally focused on single exposure-health effect relationships. The 'exposome' concept encompasses the totality of exposures from conception onward, complementing the genome. OBJECTIVES: The Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) project is a new collaborative research project that aims to implement novel exposure assessment and biomarker methods to characterize early-life exposure to multiple environmental factors and associate these with omics biomarkers and child health outcomes, thus characterizing the 'early-life exposome.' Here we describe the general design of the project. METHODS: In six existing birth cohort studies in Europe, HELIX will estimate prenatal and postnatal exposure to a broad range of chemical and physical exposures. Exposure models will be developed for the full cohorts totaling 32,000 mother-child pairs, and biomarkers will be measured in a subset of 1,200 mother--child pairs. Nested repeat-sampling panel studies (n = 150) will collect data on biomarker variability, use smartphones to assess mobility and physical activity, and perform personal exposure monitoring. Omics techniques will determine molecular profiles (metabolome, proteome, transcriptome, epigenome) associated with exposures. Statistical methods for multiple exposures will provide exposure-response estimates for fetal and child growth, obesity, neurodevelopment, and respiratory outcomes. A health impact assessment exercise will evaluate risks and benefits of combined exposures. CONCLUSIONS: HELIX is one of the first attempts to describe the early-life exposome of European populations and unravel its relation to omics markers and health in childhood. As proof of concept, it will form an important first step toward the life-course exposome. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307204

Semisoft cheese made from raw sheep's milk is traditionally and economically important in southern Europe. However, raw milk cheese is also a known vehicle of human listeriosis and contamination of sheep cheese with Listeria monocytogenes has been reported. In the present study, we have developed and applied a quantitative risk assessment model, based on available evidence and challenge testing, to estimate risk of invasive listeriosis due to consumption of an artisanal sheep cheese made with raw milk collected from a single flock in central Italy. In the model, contamination of milk may originate from the farm environment or from mastitic animals, with potential growth of the pathogen in bulk milk and during cheese ripening. Based on the 48-day challenge test of a local semisoft raw sheep's milk cheese we found limited growth only during the initial phase of ripening (24 hours) and no growth or limited decline during the following ripening period. In our simulation, in the baseline scenario, 2.2% of cheese servings are estimated to have at least 1 colony forming unit (CFU) per gram. Of these, 15.1% would be above the current E.U. limit of 100 CFU/g (5.2% would exceed 1,000 CFU/g). Risk of invasive listeriosis per random serving is estimated in the 10−12 range (mean) for healthy adults, and in the 10−10 range (mean) for vulnerable populations. When small flocks (10-36 animals) are combined with the presence of a sheep with undetected subclinical mastitis, risk of listeriosis increases and such flocks may represent a public health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semisoft cheese made from raw sheep's milk is traditionally and economically important in southern Europe. However, raw milk cheese is also a known vehicle of human listeriosis and contamination of sheep cheese with Listeria monocytogenes has been reported. In the present study, we have developed and applied a quantitative risk assessment model, based on available evidence and challenge testing, to estimate risk of invasive listeriosis due to consumption of an artisanal sheep cheese made with raw milk collected from a single flock in central Italy. In the model, contamination of milk may originate from the farm environment or from mastitic animals, with potential growth of the pathogen in bulk milk and during cheese ripening. Based on the 48-day challenge test of a local semisoft raw sheep's milk cheese we found limited growth only during the initial phase of ripening (24 hours) and no growth or limited decline during the following ripening period. In our simulation, in the baseline scenario, 2.2% of cheese servings are estimated to have at least 1 colony forming unit (CFU) per gram. Of these, 15.1% would be above the current E.U. limit of 100 CFU/g (5.2% would exceed 1,000 CFU/g). Risk of invasive listeriosis per random serving is estimated in the 10 -12 range (mean) for healthy adults, and in the 10 -10 range (mean) for vulnerable populations. When small flocks (10-36 animals) are combined with the presence of a sheep with undetected subclinical mastitis, risk of listeriosis increases and such flocks may represent a public health risk., (© 2016 The Authors Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.)