EFSA considers more than 200 comments as part of aspartame consultation

EFSA says it is considering more than 200 comments received during a public consultation on its draft opinion on aspartame.

The results of the consultation and feedback from a stakeholder meeting, as well as EFSA’s responses to the comments received, are due to be published in a report next month.

“We have learned a lot from this consultation,” says chair of the ANS Panel, Alicja Mortensen. “We have seen, for instance, that we need to better explain why we include or exclude certain studies from our risk assessment, as well as the uncertainties and limitations of some of the studies available. We will consider all the points raised very carefully in the finalisation of our opinion.”

During the online phase of EFSA’s public consultation, the Authority received a total of 219 comments on its draft opinion. The majority of these were submitted by NGOs and members of the public, with others originating from academia, national food safety agencies, the food industry and journalists.