Speakers
Dr. Basil Mathioudakis
Head, Nutrition, Food Composition and Information Unit,
Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, European Commission
Topics
Nutrition and health claims in the EU – Key policy elements
Health claims: results and experience from implementing the law in the EU
Biography
Dr Mathioudakis has a scientific background having studied first Biochemistry and then Human Nutrition at the University of London.
He joined the European Commission in 1982. He has worked on food legislation for 30 years covering a variety of dossiers. Since 2004 he heads the Unit responsible for dietetic foods, food supplements, nutrition labelling, addition of vitamins and minerals to foods, food labelling and nutrition and health claims.
Since 2004 he chairs the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) - section General Food Law, which votes on all relevant implementing legal measures, including the authorisation or not of the nutrition and health claims.
As representative of the European Commission, Dr. Mathioudakis has followed work on the relevant subjects at international level at the Codex Alimentarius Commission, World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation.
He also follows closely the work of the scientific advisory bodies, in particular that of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the area of Nutrition in general and in particular on the subjects for which his unit is responsible. For 15 years (1982-1997) he was the secretary of the Working Group on Nutrition and Dietetic Foods of the Scientific Committee for Food of the European Commission which was the precedes of EFSA.