The Ministry of Health has established the National Reference Laboratory for Food Improvers (LNR-FIA) , entrusting its management to two Italian centres of excellence: the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER) .The new facility will act as a pillar in food safety , carrying out development, validation and control activities on analytical methods for additives, enzymes and flavourings, which are essential to guarantee safe products that comply with European regulations.
A new National Reference Laboratory
The joint designation falls under Article 100 of Regulation (EU) No 625/2017 , which requires each Member State to appoint one or more national reference laboratories following the establishment of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Improvement Agents (EURL-FIA), recently assigned to Sciensano (Belgium).Food improvers are those substances used in the food industry to improve the physical, chemical or organoleptic characteristics of foods.
These include food additives, flavorings, and enzymes that perform specific functions, such as increasing shelf life, improving flavor, aroma, or texture, or aiding manufacturing processes.
Additives may include preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers, and stabilizers , while enzymes are used to speed up chemical reactions, such as fermentation or ripening.
The use of food improvers
The use of food improvers is regulated at European level to ensure consumer safety and prevent any health risks.Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 lays down general rules on the use of food additives , while Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 lays down rules on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties.
The use of food improvers is essential to meet the needs of the modern food industry, ensuring safe, high-quality products that comply with regulatory standards.
However, it is important to maintain a balance between technological innovation and health protection.
The LNR-FIA , in addition to the obligations set out in Regulation (EU) No. 625/2017, will have to carry out a series of specific tasks including:
- develop and validate analytical methods in their field of expertise and promote their application at national level;
- develop common guidelines for the validation of analytical methods and provide support to official laboratories for their application;
- carry out confirmatory analyses in case of doubtful or positive results detected by other official laboratories;
- prepare and update a list of official laboratories, indicating the methods used (validated or accredited), the analytes, the food matrices and the reference materials available. This list must be published on the LNR website, allowing effective collaboration between laboratories, as required by Article 9 of Legislative Decree no. 27/2021.
- organize annual workshops for official laboratories, plan training sessions for all staff involved, including regional and local CAs, within the official control activities;
- provide technical support in national, European and international activities, including the management of emerging risks , collaborate with the Ministry of Health in planning and risk management, based on the results of annual control activities (Official National Control Plan for Food Additives and Flavourings);
- draw up an annual programme based on the tasks and responsibilities defined in Article 101 of Regulation 625. (Source: https://www.izsler.it/ )