WRITTEN QUESTION E-0051/02 by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Cyclamate.
Date: 2002-01-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: child, food standard, foodstuffs legislation, health risk, labelling, non-alcoholic beverage, public health, sweetener

C 147 E/236

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2002

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2002)

The Commission was unable to verify whether the organisers of the Padua marathon, which is to be held
on 28 April 2002, are in fact applying higher registration fees for non-residents than for those resident in
Italy. No information on this matter could be accessed on the website indicated by the Honourable
Member.

However, if this information were to be confirmed, the Commission would strongly urge the organisers of
the marathon not to discriminate between participants, as this could be contrary to the fundamental
principle of non-discrimination. This principle, which is enshrined in Article 12 of the EC Treaty, prohibits
not only any discrimination on grounds of nationality but also the application of any other criterion
which, as in the case in point, directly or indirectly produces the same result.

Moreover, if it were to emerge that the authorities were involved in organising the marathon in that way,
the Commission, after examining the relevant circumstances of the case in point, could initiate an
infringement procedure against Italy under Article 226 of the EC Treaty.

(2002/C 147 E/253)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0051/02

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(24 January 2002)

Subject: Cyclamate

Almost half of all ‘light’ products contain artificial sweeteners such as cyclamate. The European Acceptable
Daily Intake (ADI) standard for cyclamate is 7 mg per day per kg of body weight for children up to eight
years of age.

According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, this means that, in order to comply with the European
standard for cyclamate intake, children up to that age must not drink more than two glasses of ‘light’ soft
drinks a day. In the case of adults, the limit is 1,1 litres of soft drinks a day.

However, there are millions of children in the European Union who drink more than two glasses of
artificially sweetened soft drinks a day.

Is it not time that the European Union 4 following the example set by the United States in 1969 4
banned the addition of cyclamate (E952) as an artificial sweetener?

Is the Commission considering the compulsory introduction of a warning on soft drink containers about
the maximum daily number of glasses which should be consumed by children?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

The Scientific Committee on Food has last evaluated the artificial sweetener cyclamate in March 2000. The
former Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 11 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) body weight was lowered to
7 mg/kg body weight. The ADI is defined as the amount of a food additive that can be ingested daily over
a lifetime without incurring any appreciable health risk. Therefore, the Commission does not consider a
complete ban of cyclamate as justified. The Commission is however examining how to ensure that the
intake of cyclamate does not exceed the new ADI, for example by amendments to authorised limits for its
use and the authorisation of alternatives.

The Commission considers that for substances such as additives, for which restrictive conditions of use are
laid down by the legislation on the basis of a risk assessment, additional labelling requirements are not
justified. Therefore, the Commission does not wish to introduce a warning statement on the label of soft
drinks as suggested by the Honourable Member.