2022-08 SAVE GAS FOR A SAFE WINTER: SPECIALTY FOOD INGREDIENTS ARE “SOCIETALLY-CRITICAL”

EU Specialty Food Ingredients welcomes that food is identified by the European Commission as a societally-critical sector, for which a disruption of gas supply would have negative effects on supply chains^[1].

EU Specialty Food Ingredients would like to stress that the production of foods and beverages requires specialty food ingredients^[2] for their processing and formulation, and that food ingredients are defined as food in the General Food Law^[3].

Members of EU Specialty Food Ingredients encourage Member States, when considering measures^[4] to reach a 15 % demand reduction target between August 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, to prioritise the production of specialty food ingredients as an activity critical for society given their vital role in the food supply chain.

The European specialty food ingredients industries acknowledge their responsibility of being themselves as resource-efficient as possible in the production of specialty food ingredients.

Our statement is available here.

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[1] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “Save gas for a safe winter” COM(2022) 360 final

[2] vitamins, additives, enzymes, minerals, cultures, specific fats and proteins, functional carbohydrates etc.

[3] Article 2 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety

[4] Article 6 of COUNCIL REGULATION on coordinated demand reduction measures for gas: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-11625-2022-INIT/en/pdf