Food and nutrition

Ninety-five percent of the adult population in France is exposed to a risk of deteriorated health because they do not get enough exercise or spend too much time sitting. These risks are increased when lack of physical activity is combined with an overly sedentary lifestyle. Some population groups are more exposed than others. ANSES considers that promoting lifestyle behaviours that encourage exercise and combat physical inactivity should be a priority for the public authorities.

The French EGAlim Act established a two-year trial to introduce a weekly vegetarian menu in school canteens. ANSES was asked by the Directorate General for Health and the Directorate General for Food to provide its scientific support twice in the context of implementing the trial.

How can distributors guarantee the safety of products sold to consumers in bulk? Can all products be sold this way? With bulk selling becoming increasingly popular, driven by social demand as well as by the legislator through the French AGEC Act, ANSES has been asked by the Directorate General for fair Trading, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) to give its opinion regarding products that may not be sold in this way for public health reasons. To continue to effectively protect consumer health, it is important for distributors to apply appropriate procedures to bulk selling.

Certain drinking water pipes are made of asbestos cement. Under some circumstances, therefore, asbestos fibres can be found in drinking water. ANSES has conducted an initial review of the scientific literature to characterise the hazards associated with asbestos ingestion. Before it was banned in France in 1997, when respiratory exposure was found to be hazardous to humans, asbestos was used in a variety of sectors, particularly in construction. In fact, 4% of the French public drinking water supply network still consists of asbestos cement. " The risk of asbestos fibres being released into the water supply remains low when the pipes have been installed in stable non-aggressive soil, and when the water carried by these pipes contains calcium, because the build-up of scale protects the pipe . However, risks from the presence of asbestos in drinking water cannot be ruled out in the case of badly deteriorated pipes ," say scientists from ANSES's Water Risk Assessment Unit. As people are mainly exposed to asbestos by air, studies on the health risks of asbestos have, until now, mainly focused on this source of exposure. The last baseline analysis conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2012 on the links between asbestos and the occurrence of cancer did not explicitly address the hazards associated with ingestion. The expert appraisal was prompted by two alarmist studies, which nevertheless had limitations Two studies by an Italian research team, published in 2016 and 2017, had concluded that the health risks associated with asbestos ingestion, mainly through the daily consumption of drinking water, may be underestimated. In its scientific and technical analysis note published in 2017, ANSES observed that these two studies were not sufficiently robust: they had not assessed the quality of the publications on which they had based their conclusions and had not taken into account all the scientific publications available on the subject. The Agency was therefore asked to characterise the hazards of asbestos by ingestion, by conducting a systematic review of the scientific literature . Not enough evidence to rule on a causal relationship In order to study the health hazards of asbestos ingestion, in particular concerning the development of digestive cancers (oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, liver, etc.), the Agency conducted a comprehensive review of current knowledge on this subject. Of the 4409 human and 1107 animal studies on the effects of asbestos, the experts identified 17 studies examining asbestos ingestion in the general population, 19 examining asbestos ingestion in animals and 41 examining occupational exposure to asbestos. The working group conducted a standardised assessment of these studies to determine the levels of evidence that could be used to characterise the plausibility of a link between asbestos exposure and the occurrence of digestive cancers. This assessment led the experts to conclude that the levels of evidence were "inadequate", i.e. the data published to date cannot be used to rule on the possibility or absence of an association between asbestos ingestion and digestive cancers. " Most of the existing studies are old or have methodological limitations that mean they are unable to demonstrate a causal link between asbestos ingestion and the occurrence of these cancers ," explain the experts of the working group. Signals for some cancers but no certainty However, the existence of signals suggesting the possibility of an association between asbestos ingestion and three specific digestive cancers was highlighted. These are cancers of the oesophagus, stomach and colon. This possibility is supported by epidemiological studies conducted in occupational settings that report more cases of these cancers in workers exposed to asbestos than in the general population. This is because a fraction of the asbestos inhaled by workers can be swallowed and pass directly into the digestive tract. However, the data do not enable a reliable estimate of the extent of this fraction compared with that reaching these organs via the respiratory route, through the lungs and the bloodstream, and mean that these results cannot be extrapolated to exposure by ingestion. Surveillance campaigns recommended Given the past use of asbestos in certain pipes, the Agency recommends conducting targeted campaigns to detect the presence of possible asbestos fibres in drinking water liable to contain them. These data could then be used for future studies or epidemiological surveillance work. The Agency also recommends monitoring the condition of asbestos cement pipes to ensure that they are renovated or replaced in the event of damage.

After six years, the Marco project (Marine and coastal research in Côte d’Opale: from environments to resources, uses and the quality of aquatic products) is coming to an end. In honour of this occasion, its five partner agencies are holding a conference from 13 to 15 October in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Below is an overview of the themes of this project, to which ANSES contributed with regard to the quality of seafood products, in particular by studying microplastics and their impact on them.

Nanomaterials are increasingly being used in our food, mainly to improve a product's appearance, packaging or nutritional content. However, their potential health impacts are raising many questions. This is especially true of titanium dioxide used as a food additive (E171), whose safety has been questioned by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and which is in the process of being banned in the European Union with effect from 2022. To assess the risks posed by nanomaterials in food, a "nanospecific" assessment method is essential. This is the purpose of the scientific guide published by the Agency today.

Three cases of vitamin D overdose have recently been reported in infants as a result of taking food supplements. Too much vitamin D can have serious, life-threatening consequences on the health of young children. To limit risks, we would like to reiterate our recommendations on the vitamin D supplementation of infants.