Course info

The BTSF Training Programme on Food information and composition overall objectives are:

Food Information and Legislation:

• In the course, the participants will experience active learning involvements which the team have developed from the experience of the tutors over the previous BTSF programme on FCI. The FCI is detailed in some areas and these details can help in explaining the requirements of the regulations in other areas. The tutors will develop scenarios using their experience in the field and help the participants address the issues and expand their knowledge. The participants can also develop this approach to learning as they will also be able to come with their own ideas and labelling issues and use the expertise of those on the course to develop a more consistent approach to address these local issues thrown up by the FCI.

Nutrition and Health Claims:

• The objective of the training is to improve the knowledge of participants in the field of nutrition and health claims and to exchange information and experiences between officials of the different Member States, in particular concerning the proper enforcement of the Regulation. The aim of the sessions is to explain the variety of claims defined in Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and under which conditions these claims are allowed to be used. Furthermore, the different procedures for the authorization of health claims, the rules for trademarks and brand names which can be regarded as nutrition or health claims and the labelling requirements will be discussed

Food fortification and Food Supplement:

• The objective of this training course is to harmonise as much as possible the interpretations of relevant European FCI regulations on food supplements and fortified foods and to share good practices on their implementation among EU Member States, giving consideration to the specificities of these particular food products

Food for Specific Groups:

• The objective of the section on Foods for Specific Groups (FSG) is to ensure a common understanding, interpretation and enforcement of the rules covering these products.
• The rules applicable to these products are in a transition period. They are also interconnected with rules applicable to other categories of foods such as food supplements and ordinary foods. The change from the wider concept of foods for particular nutritional uses (PARNUTS) or dietetic foods with the abolition of the category as such is a very important change. The rationale of this change will be explained with reference to abuses that had been identified in the past, in particular those relating to abusive labelling practices that resulted in and may continue to create confusion about the legal identity or categorisation of products that could be FSGs, particularly Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs), food supplements or ordinary foods with claims.