About the NDA Panel and the Nutrition Unit
Throughout its work on nutrition, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) provides up-to-date and comprehensive scientific advice to policy makers. EFSA is responsible for risk assessment, and policy makers at EU and national level may use such advice to ground regulatory decisions, develop nutritional policies, set diet-related public health targets or develop educational programmes on healthy diets.
The Panel carries out its work either in response to requests for scientific advice from risk managers, such as the European Commission, or on its own initiative.
The NDA Panel deals with questions related to nutrition and related subjects, such as novel foods. Examples of its work include:
- assessment of nutrition and health claims,
- setting of dietary reference values,
- guidance on how to establish food-based dietary guidelines,
- setting of tolerable upper intake levels for vitamins and minerals,
- advice on food allergens,
- advice on novel foods,
- assessment of ingredients to be used in infant formulas.
The Panel assesses whether claims on the possible nutrition and health benefits of foods are substantiated by scientific evidence. This scientific evaluation serves as a basis for risk managers to decide whether to authorise such claims in the EU.
The Panel is also responsible for establishing dietary reference values for energy, water, macro- and micronutrients. These may help risk managers to set dietary guidelines at national levels. In December 2009, the Panel also issued guidance on how to translate nutritional recommendations into practical food-based dietary guidelines.
Furthermore, the NDA Panel provided scientific advice on the setting of tolerable upper levels of intake (UL) for vitamins and minerals. These are daily intake levels which are unlikely to pose a risk of adverse health effects. The ULs set by EFSA can support the European Commission and Member States in setting maximum levels of nutrients authorised in fortified foods and food supplements.
In addition, the Panel gave advice on whether certain food ingredients or substances, derived from foods containing known allergens, are not likely, under specific circumstances, to trigger adverse reactions (e.g., where the allergens have been removed or the level has been reduced during production of the food ingredient or substance). The European Commission requested such advice in order to underpin measures related to food labelling, and ultimately to provide consumers with better information.
Moreover, the NDA Panel provides advice on novel foods –foods or food ingredients that, according to the legal definition for novel foods, were not used for human consumption to a significant degree within the European Union before May 1997.
Finally, the Panel also assesses the safety of ingredients contained in infant formulae and their suitability to satisfy young children’s nutritional requirements.
How we work
In all these areas, the Panel works independently, openly and transparently to deliver timely scientific advice of the highest standards to support the policies and decisions of risk managers in the field of nutrition.
It regularly sets up working groups involving external scientists with relevant expertise to focus on specific matters and help in the preparatory work of scientific opinions. The Panel itself meets regularly in plenary sessions. Each opinion results from a collective decision-making process with every Panel member having an equal say.
Nutrition Unit
The Nutrition Unit provides administrative and scientific support to the work of the NDA Panel and may carry out other projects in EFSA’s remit. The unit may also produce scientific outputs on behalf of EFSA, for instance in response to urgent requests for scientific advice.
