Baby Food and Food for Special Medical Purposes

Baby Food and Food for Special Medical Purposes

Prepared by: Economic Policy Research Center

Every citizen demands quality, healthy and safe food products. This is even more important when it comes to food intended for small children and food for special medical purposes. For example, people suffering from diabetes need the guarantee of being protected from products that contains sugar.

Because of these risks, the EU has complied a list of food products for special medical purposes, which are subject to a specific set of strict requirements. These food categories include food for infants, processed cereal-based foods, and food for special medical purposes.

The World Health Organization recommends that premature babies and babies born with very low birth weights should be fed mother’s milk. However, such babies often have special nutrition requirements which cannot be met by mother’s milk or standard baby formula alone. These infants’ nutritional requirements depend on their individual health conditions, and their food is recommended on a case-by-case basis.

There are an increasing number of milk-based drinks and similar products aimed at young children, athletes, food for special medical purposes and people trying to lose weight. Such foods are, normally, derived from animal or vegetable products, for example, milk, soy, rice, and so on. It is important that such food contains the precise ingredients and substances that will meet the specific nutritional requirements of the people they are intended for.

EU legislation sets requirements for each food product for special medical purposes regarding their composition of vitamins and other substances. Moreover, producers and importers of this category of food have to fulfill certain requirements in terms of providing information about the precise content of their products. Additional requirements are set for food intended for infants and young children.

Under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, the government of Georgia will gradually bring its legislation into line with that of the EU, a process known as ‘approximation’, with full implementation by 2030.

An important regulation regarding food for special medical purposes will be brought in during 2017. Regulation No 609/2013[1] concerns food intended for infants and young children (baby formula), food for special medical purposes, and diet food intended to help people lose weight.[2]

What does this regulation envisage?

The regulation concerns additional requirements in infant[3] foods and regulates food derived from milk and other similar products, as well as food intended for sportsmen. The directive lays down specific compositional requirements for these food products and also a whole set of information requirements for producers and importers of such foods.

The regulation required the European Commission to submit a report on the composition of such foods, their labeling and other requirements, to the European Parliament and to Council of Ministers. This report has a legislative connotation.

How do we establish that infant food and food for special medical purposes contains what it is meant to contain?

The composition of these special foods must be demonstrated through review and analysis of relevant scientific data.

The annex to the directive approves the nutritional composition required for each food category, providing a list of vitamins and other substances necessary for the product. The adoption and enforcement of this regulation will facilitate the maintenance of quality, safe food for infants and for special medical purposes on the market. However, these requirements do present a challenge manufacturers and importers of such products. They may face additional costs for conducting lab tests and drawing up the appropriate documentation.

Current legislation

Georgia’s 2015 National Strategy of Food and Healthy Nutrition, which conforms to the World Health Organization’s strategic directions, is the main piece of legislation dealing with this issue. The Law on Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding, Consumption of Bottle-Feeding Products, adopted in 1999, also aims at protecting children’s health through ensuring safe and adequate products; facilitating, protecting and promoting breastfeeding, and regulating the distribution of bottle-feeding products, feeding bottles, teats and baby’s dummies. Just like EU legislation, the Georgian law also defines “infant” as a child under the age of 12 months and “young child” as a child aged between one and three years.

Additionally, the technical regulation on Maximum Acceptable Level of Contaminants in Food, approved under the ordinance of the government of Georgia as part of the requirements of the Association Agreement, also concerns food intended for children and for special medical purposes; in particular, it deals with the maximum acceptable limits of contaminants in these food categories.

The main problem in Georgia is the enforcement, as much of the relevant of legislation already exists.

Challenges to citizens and producers of Georgia

State entities and business operators will bear the burden of implementing theses regulations. Small-scale producers and ordinary citizens will incur some additional expenses if they are engaged in the production or importation of such foods. The government must establish an effective quality control system, which will be protected against the risk of corruption. High-standard labs are also necessary, a requirement which has been partially met in Georgia, which already has more than ten labs for testing agricultural produce and food. However, these labs are not available in every region. The majority of them are located in Tbilisi, with a few in Kutaisi, Batumi and Poti. Producers and importers will probably have to face additional costs in order to meet the standards, or import such products that meet the standards.

Responsible state entities

Responsibilities for the implementation of these regulations mainly lie with the National Food Agency, the Revenue Service, the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs and the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.

Impact of regulations on society at large

This regulation concerns children,[4] persons requiring special dietary nutrition, persons requiring food for special medical purposes, sportsmen, and so on. As such, it is very important from society’s perspective.

According to data from 2013, 77,154 people in Georgia suffered from diabetes mellitus.[5] Everyone is well aware of the special dietary needs of patients with diabetes mellitus. People suffering from obesity, who are seeking to lose weight in order to protect their health, also come into the category of persons affected by this regulation. It is of great importance in such cases that food products meet the key requirements their consumers have. Another important challenge also is to avoid any steep price rises on these products, which may occur if producers and importers pass on the additional costs they face to the consumer.