Title
How we will produce the evidence-based EURRECA toolkit to support nutrition and food policy
Author
Ashwell, M.
Lambert, J.P.
Alles, M.S.
Branca, F.
Bucchini, L.
Brzozowska, A.
de Groot, L.C.P.G.M.
Dhonukshe-Rutten, R.A.M.
Dwyer, J.T.
Fairweather-Tait, S.
Koletzko, B.
Pavlovic, M.
Raats, M.M.
Serra-Majem, L.
Smith, R.
van Ommen, B.
Veer, P.V.
Von Rosen, J.
Pijls, L.T.J.
TNO Kwaliteit van Leven
Publication year
2008
Abstract
Background: There is considerable variation in the recommended micronutrient intakes used by countries within Europe, partly due to different methodologies and concepts used to determine requirements and different approaches used to express the recommendations. As populations become more mobile and multi-national, and more traditional foods become available internationally, harmonised recommendations based on up to date science are needed. This was recognised by the European Commission's (EC) Directorate-General (DG) Research in their 2005 call for proposals for a Network of Excellence (NoE) on 'nutrient status and requirements of specific vulnerable population groups'. EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned (EURRECA), which has 34 partners representing 17 European countries, started on its 5-year EC-funded programme in January 2007. The programme of work was developed over 2 years prior to submitting an application to the EC. The Network's first Integrating Meeting (IM) held in Lisbon in April 2007, and subsequent consultations, has allowed further refinement of the programme. Aim: This paper presents the rationale for the EURRECA Network's roadmap, which starts by establishing the status quo for devising micronutrient recommendations. The Network has the opportunity to identify previous barriers and then explore 'evidence-based' solutions that have not been available before to the traditional panels of experts. The network aims to produce the EURRECA 'toolkit' to help address and, in some cases, overcome these barriers so that it can be used by those developing recommendations. Results: The status quo has been largely determined by two recent initiatives; the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) reports from the USA and Canada and suggestions for approaches to international harmonisation of nutrient-based dietary standards from the United Nations University (UNU). In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been asked by the EC's Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection to produce values for micronutrient recommendations. Therefore, EURRECA will draw on the uniqueness of its consortium to produce the sustainable EURRECA toolkit, which will help make such a task more effective and efficient. Part of this uniqueness is the involvement in EURRECA of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), consumer organisations, nutrition societies and other stakeholders as well as many scientific experts. The EURRECA toolkit will contain harmonised best practice guidance for a more robust science base for setting micronutrient recommendations. Hence, in the future, the evidence base for deriving nutrient recommendations will have greater breadth and depth and will be more transparent. Conclusions: The EURRECA Network will contribute to the broader field of food and nutrition policy by encouraging and enabling the alignment of nutrient recommendations. It will do this through the development of a scientific toolkit by its partners and other stakeholders across Europe. This will facilitate and improve the formulation of micronutrient recommendations, based on transparently evaluated and quantified scientific evidence. The Network aims to be sustainable beyond its EC funding period. © 2008 Spinger.
Subject
Nutrition
Physiological Sciences
EURRECA
EURRECA toolkit
Food policy
Harmonisation
Health
Micronutrients
Network of Excellence
Nutrient recommendations
Nutrient requirements
Nutrition policy
Canada
decision making
dietary reference intake
evidence based practice
food safety
health care organization
health care policy
human
medical research
medical society
nonhuman
nutrigenomics
nutrition
practice guideline
review
standard
United States
Consumer Product Safety
Europe
Evidence-Based Medicine
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Micronutrients
Nutrition Policy
Nutritional Requirements
Nutritional Status
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6f5302a9-e3aa-4b8a-bc70-19800762ea7e
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-008-1002-6
TNO identifier
240731
ISSN
1436-6207
Source
European Journal of Nutrition, 47 (SUPPL. 1), 2-16
Document type
article