The reputation of the European Food Safety Authority has been sullied ahead of a key investigation into the food sweetener aspartame
The European body responsible for a new study on the health effects of artificial sweetener aspartame is under attack following the revelation it has hired scientists, who did not declare connections to the food industry. A transparency watchdog has called for two newly appointed members of the EFSA's additives panel to be suspended after uncovering their past relationship with a lobbying firm financed by aspartame producer Ajinomoto and food giants Coca-Cola, Kraft and Nestle.
The two scientists, Italian Riccardo Crebelli and German Ursula Gundert-Remy, are "in violation" of the agency's own rules because they "failed to disclose consulting activities for the International Life Sciences Institute, an international lobby group funded by the food industry", says watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory. New rules were needed to ensure scientists' credentials were impeccable, according to the observatory, which says its mission is to "expose the power of corporate lobbying in the European Union".
The Italy-based EFSA was asked in May to re-evaluate the safety of aspartame, due to high levels of public concern over possible side-effects. This followed two academic studies published last year, linking aspartame with cancer in mice and pre-term delivery. After reviewing the studies' findings, the agency decided its existing advice on the "acceptable daily intake" of aspartame - 40 mg per kilogramme of body weight - did not need altering. "Even though aspartame has been authorised for many years in many countries following thorough safety assessments, a degree of public concern about the safety of aspartame has continued," the agency said, adding that it was now "working to address this public concern".
Shortly after the new study was commissioned, five of the 19 members of the agency's panel on food additives and nutrient sources were replaced as their mandates had expired. Corporate Europe Observatory, together with a French watchdog, examined the backgrounds of the new members. Gundert-Remy was appointed as a scientific adviser to the Life Sciences Institute's research foundation in 2005, the watchdogs found. Crebelli on the other hand "was a member of the scientific committee of a three-day symposium on the safety of food packaging" organised by the institute in 2008. He was tasked with "the review of research abstracts submitted by applicants who wish to publicly present their work at the symposium".
The agency has defended its appointees. Criticism was based on "factual mistakes" that put a "negative light" on its independence, the agency's executive director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle said in a letter earlier this week. The experts "were not required to declare those activities, as they are not related to their scientific panel's field of activities," Geslain-Lanéelle said. Gundert-Remy "advised (the institute) on general research topics such as obesity" whereas Crebelli "has not been a member" of the institute's scientific committee - but rather, "participated in the scientific committee of a conference".
Such activities, the executive director said "cannot result in potential conflicts of interest" and there had, therefore, been no "breach of trust". Corporate Europe Observatory insisted on the other hand that experts were obliged by the agency's rules to declare all interests "even if this advice or these services are not related to the field of activities of the scientific panel of a given expert". The Life Sciences Institute rejects claims that it is a lobby firm, preferring to refer to itself as a "foundation" - seeking a "balanced approach to solving problems of common concern for the wellbeing of the general public". Backers of its European branch include Monsanto, the genetically modified seed specialist, Mars and Unilever.
From: publicserviceeurope.com
From: publicserviceeurope.com
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