Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-10-Speech-1-116"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2000-04-10"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Food additives other than colours and sweeteners2
dcterms:Language	"sv"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20000410.7.1-116"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2000-04-10-Speech-1-1172
lpv:speaker	lp:Per-Arne Arvidsson2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation to the EU-Czech Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 member; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Delegation to the European Economic Area Joint Parliamentary Committee (EEA) (1999-10-08--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Moderata samlingspartiet (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, I share in principle the opinion of the rapporteur that new additives in foodstuffs should not be approved if there is no actual need for them. However, I would like to point out that we ought to consider the fact that there might be a regional or national tradition that justifies the approval of an additive. The additive I am thinking of in this regard is ethylhydroxyethylcellulose. This substance is no luxury and it is not addictive. Ethylhydroxyethylcellulose has, however, been used for more than 20 years in Sweden and Finland, and I think also in Norway, as a binding agent in gluten-free bread and pastries. It is used in order to prevent gluten-free bread and pastries from crumbling apart and in order that the relatively small group of people with an intolerance for gluten are able to eat bread and pastries in the same form as other healthy people. Ethylhydroxyethylcellulose is particularly suitable for the kind of bread traditionally made in the northern region of the EU. The substance is, therefore, not completely exchangeable for other, already approved types of cellulose. The rapporteur claims that there is a risk of contaminants in ethylhydroxyethylcellulose that could have a carcinogenic effect and also suggests that high doses could have a laxative effect. However, I maintain that in reality the opposite may be true. The fact that the bread sticks together and does not have to be eaten with a spoon because it has broken into a mass of crumbs is particularly important for children with gluten intolerance. These children have difficulty understanding why they should have to eat breadcrumbs when other children eat whole bread that does not crumble into pieces. If children are careless about their diet, there is an increased risk of malnutrition. If children with gluten intolerance abandon the breadcrumbs and eat normal bread, they will suffer from stomach pain and they can then develop diarrhoea. In the long term, there is probably also an increased risk of contracting cancer of the stomach or intestine. For many families with gluten intolerant children, life is very difficult and the extra work involved in managing their diet is tremendous. These families cannot buy their bread, but have to make it themselves and add the binding agent themselves. Why should we make life even more difficult for these families? Why should they not be allowed to continue to use the binding agent that they are used to using? Not approving ethylhydroxyethylcellulose makes life more difficult for people with gluten intolerance and for families with gluten intolerant children. In this case it is not possible to invoke the precautionary principle in order to ban the substance. On the contrary, the precautionary principle favours the approval of ethylhydroxyethylcellulose."@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph