Scottish Food Advisory Committee – July 2009

Food Standards Agency Scotland Office,
St Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen, AB11 6NJ

Front of Pack Labelling

Since 2006, the Agency has recommended a voluntary front of pack labelling scheme which includes traffic light colour coding which indicates to consumers the levels of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar within the product. The FSA scheme has been widely adopted by many major food retailers and manufacturers.

As other front of pack labelling schemes also exist, namely a Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) scheme and a hybrid scheme, which incorporates both GDAs and the FSA traffic light scheme, an independent group of experts was commissioned to evaluate the effectiveness of these three schemes. On 6th May 2009, the group published their report and findings. The main conclusion of the research was that a single scheme combining, elements of the FSA front of pack scheme and the GDA scheme would be most helpful for shoppers.

Food and Drink Policy Scotland

It was reported that food branded with saltires had experienced a 25% year on year increase. The policy announced at the Royal Highland Show requires several actions from FSA namely reducing saturated fat and salt levels, reducing the risk of food poisoning, addressing country of origin labelling.

It is widely believed that the Scottish Government put a lot of thought into the policy announcement but have not as yet devoted much time to the delivery and implementation of the policy.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition's (SACN) Iron and Health Report

Any hope of FSA recommendations to boost iron intake that would carry the message “Eat More Red Meat” don't look likely despite the fact that meat is loaded with iron. This report reaches conclusions about meat consumption that do not appear to have anything to do with iron but more about reducing the risk of contracting colorectal cancer (CRC). It was said that modelling has led to the belief that 50g of red meat per day is sufficient to meet nutritional needs and that vegetarians are not missing out as a result of not eating meat. Naturally we do not want to see recommendations to reduce daily red meat intake.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) released their draft report on Iron and Health for scientific consultation on 17 June 2009.

SACN is an advisory committee of independent experts that provides advice to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Health (DH) as well as other Government Agencies and Departments. Its remit includes advising matters concerning nutrient content of individual foods, advice on diet and the nutritional status of people.

UK national dietary surveys have consistently shown that a proportion of the population, particularly children aged 1½-3½ years (12-24%), girls aged 11-18 years (44-48%) and women aged 19-49 years (25-40%), have low iron intakes relative to recommended reference intakes, which has raised concerns that they may be at risk of iron deficiency.

In their report, Nutritional Aspects of the Development of Cancer (DH, 1998), the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA) highlighted possible links between red and processed meat and colorectal cancer and recommended that “high consumers should consider a reduction” in red and processed meat consumption. Since red meat is a rich dietary source of iron any general recommendation to reduce meat consumption might compromise dietary sources of iron, and other micronutrients.

The SACN Working Group on Iron was established in 2001 with the following terms of reference:
To review the dietary intakes of iron in its various forms and the impact of different dietary patterns on the nutritional and health status of the population and to make proposals.

The Working Group was also asked to consider both beneficial and adverse effects increasing iron intakes, including the:
 Effect of dietary components on iron absorption and utilisation in the body.
 Potential adverse effects of excess iron, including free radical damage and the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Main conclusions of the draft report

The main conclusions of the draft report are as follows:

Dietary iron exists in two main forms: haem iron and non-haem iron. Haem iron is found mainly in foods of animal origin; non-haem iron found in animal and plant tissues.

Causes of iron deficiency include inadequate intakes of iron, impaired absorption, and increased blood losses due to menstruation or gastrointestinal disease.

Studies in humans suggest that iron deficiency anaemia may be associated with reduced work capacity; iron deficiency in the absence of anaemia has not been to found to affect work capacity.

It has been proposed that high iron intakes may increase the risk of colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), infection, neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammatory conditions.

Limited evidence suggest that increased dietary intakes of total or haem iron are associated with increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, however confounding by other dietary and lifestyle factors is likely. Overall, there are insufficient data to draw conclusions on the association between total or haem iron intake, or iron stores and CRC risk. Meat, particularly red meat, is the main source of haem iron.

The available evidence suggests that red and processed meat intake is probably associated with increased CRC risk. However, as the evidence is based on observational studies, the effects of confounding by other factors associated with increased CRC risk cannot be excluded. It is not possible to identify the amounts of red or processed meat which may be associated with an increased CRC risk because of a number of limitations in the data.

Recommendations of the draft report

It is important to ensure that the UK population has a safe and adequate supply of iron. Groups at risk of iron deficiency include toddlers, girls and women of reproductive age, and adults aged over 65 years. Health professionals need to be vigilant of poor iron status in these groups and ensure that they are provided with appropriate medical advice, including dietary advice on how to increase their iron intakes and to consider use of iron supplements if required.

A public health approach to increasing iron intake, i.e. a healthy balanced diet, including a variety of foods containing iron, is important in helping people achieve adequate iron status. Such an approach is more important than focusing on particular inhibitors or enhancers of the bioavailability of iron from diets or the use of iron fortified foods.

Lower consumption of red and processed meat would probably reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Although the evidence is not conclusive, as a precaution, it may be advisable for intakes of red and processed meat not to increase above the current average (70 g/day) and for high consumers of red and processed meat (100 g/day or more) to reduce their intakes. (that is cooked weights)

On the bright side SACN do not support the World Cancer research recommendations not to eat processed meats (by that they mean meat products containing nitrites and nitrates).

Next steps

The scientific consultation period will run for 14 weeks until 23 September 2009, and SACN would welcome any comments on the scientific content. SACN will then revise and publish the final report on iron and health. It is anticipated that the FSA Board will discuss the final report's recommendations at their meeting in May 2010 and formally advise all UK health ministers.