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The Spanish government approved measures last week as part of the reform of the food chain law. Measures, including the implementation of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive, must now be approved by the House. The reform also includes a measure ordering buyer in the supply chain to pay the seller a price that is higher than or equal to the actual cost of production of the traded goods. A retail chain that sells a product below cost must offset the loss at its own expense. However, if he also bought the product below the price, he is obliged to pay a fine of up to EUR 100,000. If the situation recurs, the penalty may amount to up to EUR 1 million. However, the measure offers an exception for perishable products. Promotions offering, for example, a bottle of oil to purchase two bottles of free detergent will be prohibited. The package also includes a clause stating the obligation to include in the contract between farmers and the first buyers of agricultural production a statement that the agreed price covers production costs.
More information is available here.

The European Food Safety Committee (EFSA) has launched a public consultation on the content of polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances in food. In its opinion, EFSA proposes a limit on the ‘tolerable weekly intake’ of the main four PFAS substances accumulating in the body. It should be an amount that can be consumed without compromising the health of the individual. Foods with the highest PFAS content are drinking water, fish, fruit and eggs; PFAS are present, for example, in packaging materials. The public consultation is open until 20/04/2020.
The public consultation is available here

Loma Linda University of Health researchers presented the results of an observational study in the International Epidemiology Journal, which states that factors associated with milk consumption may increase the risk of breast cancer in women by up to 80%. For 8 years, 53,000 healthy women participated in the study, of which 1,057 had breast cancer. Scientists consider the hormone content of cow's milk as a possible explanation, which may increase the risk of breast cancer. Other dairy products, according to the study, should not affect health (cancer).
More information is available here.

The results of the EU review of endocrine disruptor rules will be released in the middle of this year, as stated by Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevichius and Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a letter to EDC Free Europe (Europe without Endocrine Disruptors). The results will be discussed in October 2020 at the 2nd Annual Forum on Endocrine Disruptors. The European Commission is also preparing an amendment to the registration requirements in the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) to ensure that companies placing chemicals on the EU market provide data on endocrine disruptors contained in their devices.
The letter is available here.

China has reduced the import of poultry meat from Europe due to concerns about the further spread of bird flu. China banned the import of poultry products from Slovenia, Hungary, Germany and Ukraine on 21/02/2020. In China, there has been an outbreak of bird flu in the Sichuan, Hunan and Xinjiang provinces in recent months, in Europe, cases of outbreaks of bird flu have recently been reported in, for example, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Germany.
More information is available here.