25-27 April 2006, Mallorca (Spain)
The concept of nutrient profiling, included in the EU proposal for a regulation on nutrition and health claims, has been presented at several occasions by the European Commission as a tool to combat public health problems such as obesity and hearth disease. However, the setting of nutrient profiles is a complex process and has thus created heated debates throughout the scientific community and other stakeholders involved in the claims process in Europe. In response, the ILSI Europe Functional Food Task Force organised a workshop on nutrient profiling, which was held on 25-27 April 2006 in Mallorca. At the workshop science-based approaches to the nutritional characterisation of foods were explored including comparing different profiling schemes; how to validate them; and the wider scientific aspects and potential impact of nutrient profiling.
Issues that were addressed in working groups at the workshop includes:
- Should profiles be set for foods in general and/or for categories of foods?
- In what way should the reference quantity/basis for profiles be defined?
- How can the choice and balance of nutrients be taken into account when profiling foods?
- How can the calculation of profiles be carried out?
- How can the testing /validation of proposed systems be carried out?
The full summary report of the workshop will be published in the European Journal of Nutrition in 2007.
For a short summary click here.