News

Air quality has been a subject of concern for many years and has now become a major public health issue. After major studies on outdoor air, ANSES has become highly involved in the quality of indoor air as well. Among the risks linked to pollutants in these environments, construction materials, interior decoration products and furnishing products are regularly cited as sources of pollution due to their emission of volatile and of semi-volatile pollutants. Since 2013, the labelling of construction materials and interior decoration products sold in France has been mandatory and the 3rd French Environment & Health Action Plan provides for the extension of this measure to furnishing products. In this context, ANSES was asked by the Ministries in charge of health and the ecology to identify and establish a list of chemicals that are of primary importance. Today ANSES published the list of 31 substances it considers as having first priority, in order to support the public authorities in the future implementation of furnishing product labelling with regard to volatile pollutants.

OQALI, jointly managed by ANSES and INRA, collects the nutritional information found on the packaging of processed foods. With over 35 000 items listed, almost all of the food industry sectors are now covered. Several reports have been published today, including a study characterising the nutritional quality of the food offer. The study found that “budget”-type products ("entry-level" and "hard-discount" own brands) do not appear to be of inferior nutritional quality. The study also shows that entry-level own brands provide a smaller range of products than the other market segments. Furthermore, own-brand products tend to provide a wider range of nutritional information on their packaging.

For the Fête de la Mer ("Sea Days Celebration"), ANSES and the Nord-Pas de Calais regional council signed a memorandum of cooperation on 10 July 2015 before the Mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, also a member of the French Parliament. The aim of this memorandum is to pool resources to develop research in the field of food safety and seafood quality in the Nord-Pas de Calais region.

On 3 June, ANSES was appointed reference laboratory of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) for foot and mouth disease, a major disease that, due to the direct losses it can engender, requires increased vigilance by health authorities. OIE reference laboratories are appointed to monitor the full range of scientific and technical issues surrounding a specific illness or topic. This 17th international reference mandate is recognition of the quality of the Agency's work and its commitment to animal health.