European Food Safety Authority; Outcome of the Public Consultation on the Draft Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA) on establishing Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

On 2 July 2008, the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) endorsed a draft Opinion on Food-Based Dietary Guidelines to be released for public consultation. This Scientific Report summarises the comments received through the public consultation and outlines how these were taken into account in the final opinion. EFSA had received 60 contributions from 19 interested parties (individuals, non-governmental organisations, industry organisations, academia and national assessment bodies). After a meeting with national experts on Dietary Reference Values which was held in September 2009, three additional comments on the draft Opinion on Food-Based Dietary Guidelines were received from three Member States. The main comments which were received during the public consultation related to: the addition of water in the list of dietary components listed for the identification of diet-health relationships, possible adverse health effects of excessive consumption of sugar(s), sugar-sweetened beverages, the performance of risk-benefit analysis, the contribution of food supplements and fortified food as nutrient sources in the diet, and to the section on implementation /communication /evaluation of food-based dietary guidelines. All the public comments received and comments from Member States that related to the remit of EFSA were assessed and the Opinion on Food-Based Dietary Guidelines has been revised taking relevant comments into consideration.