Month: July 2023

Brazil – ANVISA organizes sectoral dialogue on added sugars

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The National Health Surveillance Agency (in Portuguese) promoted a virtual sectoral dialogue on added sugars. The event was attended by around 550 representatives from different segments of society, including the productive sector, civil society, universities and federal public administration agencies.

Doubts were clarified on the nutritional labeling of added sugars, as well as other points on the declaration of added sugars that require treatment in Mercosur. The purpose of the meeting was also to gather contributions from the different agents interested or affected by the issue, in order to improve the implementation of nutrition labeling standards and also to assist in the negotiation of the issue with the other Mercosur Member States.

For further information, you can access the original source in Portuguese
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Brazil – Recording available of the sectorial dialogue on novel foods and ingredients

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The recording of the sectorial dialogue promoted by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) on June 28 is now available, to clarify doubts about the Public Consultation (CP) 1.158/2023. The consultation deals with the proposed standard that modernizes the rules, flows and procedures for accrediting the safety and authorization of use of novel foods and novel ingredients.

During the sectorial dialogue, the main doubts already received during the PC were presented, with technical clarifications on the subject. The purpose of the virtual event was to make the most of the remaining quotation period. There was also space for answers to questions raised by participants during the meeting.

Public consultation

The deadline for PC contributions is July 31 of this year. To contribute, simply access the form available on the Public Consultation 1.158/2023 page.

For further information, you can access the original source in Portuguese

Article – The impact of the new Brazilian labeling standard, RDC 429/2020, on access to food nutrition information: A review

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Food product labels, widely used in advertising and marketing actions, play an important role in ensuring the population’s health. The industry communicates with the consumer through it by highlighting the main characteristics of the food, in addition to information regarding the chemical and nutritional composition of the product. Thus, this study aimed to discuss the impact of the new Brazilian legislation for food labeling provided by ANVISA’s RDC 429/2020 on access to nutritional information based on a literature review in digital collections of scientific publications, such as SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences), and BVS (Virtual Health Library). A time frame of 10 years (2013-2023) was used. It was possible to see that food labeling has evolved over the past decades, always with the aim of providing consumers with a better understanding of what they are eating. Furthermore, RDC 429/2020 brought new mandatory information to the nutrition table, especially with front labeling for foods with high added sugars, saturated fats, and/or sodium content. A positive impact is expected with its fulfillment, which may enable easy access to information for consumers, who will make a more conscious choice about the food products they intend to consume. Therefore, considering avoiding frontal labeling, the food industry will be obliged to reduce the percentage of these compounds, improving the nutritional quality of commercialized products.

For further information, you can access the original source in English

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México – Response to the comments received regarding the Draft Mexican Official Standard PROY-NOM-187-SSA1/SE-2021, Corn and wheat products-Denominations-Dough and dough products

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RESPONSE to the comments received regarding the Draft Mexican Official Standard PROY-NOM-187-SSA1/SE-2021, Corn and wheat products-Denominations-Mass and dough products-Sanitary specifications-commercial and sanitary information-Test methods. (It will cancel the Mexican Official Standard NOM-187-SSA1/SCFI-2002, Products and services. Dough, tortillas, tostadas and prepared flours for their preparation and establishments where they are processed. Sanitary specifications. Commercial information. Test methods, published on August 18, 2003), published on February 15, 2022.

As a result of the analysis carried out by the National Consultative Committee of Standardization of Regulation and Sanitary Promotion and the National Consultative Committee of Standardization of the Ministry of Economy, of the comments received from the interested parties, it was considered to respond to them in the following terms:

For further information, you can access the original source in Spanish

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Panama – Ministry of Health implements new system for the sanitary registration of national food for human consumption

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The Ministry of Health (Minsa in Spanish) informs that, as of yesterday, July 3, 2023, the new system of procedures for the Sanitary Registration of National Foods for Human Consumption was implemented through the digital platform of the Integrated System of Procedures (SIT in Spanish) of the Panamanian Food Agency (APA in Spanish).

Applications for the New Sanitary Registration of National Foods for Human Consumption will be received only through this channel, for which, must be accredited by entering the web page http://www.apa.gob.pa, select the icon DNCAVV and register as a manufacturer or processing user, and comply with the requirements set forth in Article 41 of Executive Decree No. 125 of September 29, 2021 and Annex A of Resolution 685 of August 18, 2021, in addition to the other sanitary regulations in force.

For further information, you can access the original source in Spanish