Are we eating too much and badly?
Buying in bulk safely, is it possible?
For several years, in response to growing consumer demand, products sold in bulk have conquered store shelves. The offer should soon extend to a greater diversity of products, since the law relating to the fight against waste and the circular economy will allow the bulk sale of any everyday consumer product. The Agency has issued recommendations for the implementation of bulk sales under conditions guaranteeing the health safety of the products. Although these recommendations are mainly intended for distributors and public authorities, some also concern consumers.
> Explanations with Estelle Chaix, coordinator of this work.
Are food supplements useful for our health?
Dry hair, brittle nails, overwork, nervousness, digestive discomfort, disturbed sleep, lack of tone, extra “kilos”… so many inconveniences that deserve to be combated, or even eliminated. The vocabulary describing them not being however medical, these problems could seem not to be within the competence of medicine. As for the solutions offered, they do not fall under the pharmaceutical vocabulary either: detox cure, slimming solution, immunity booster, vitality pack, relaxation complex, anti-aging elixir, hepatic drainer… and would therefore not need to be purchased in pharmacies. . However, beyond these pseudoscientific formulas, it is a question of health. So why not talk to your doctor about it? Why not systematically seek advice from your pharmacist? The answer lies in the perception of these disorders by the consumer: he considers that they arise from a simple “dietary imbalance”. A rebalancing by food supplements should therefore be sufficient. Unfortunately, the reality is more complex.
> Explanations with Aymeric Dopter, Head of our Nutrition Unit
Is the absence of a cage sufficient to guarantee animal welfare?
Current livestock production systems are the result of the modernization of animal husbandry that took place after the Second World War with the aim of providing Europe with large quantities of animal protein at low cost. Quite spectacular work was then carried out in order to: increase animal productivity while reducing production costs, improve animal health, the sanitary quality of products and the working conditions of breeders.
> Find out more with Virginie Michel, national coordinator of animal welfare activities.
Does the water we drink contain microplastics?
Water is far from the only food in which microplastics have been found. From milk to shellfish to fruits and vegetables, their presence in our environment is omnipresent. If the consequences on our health are not yet known, studies on animals suggest that their ingestion could impact the proper functioning of the intestine.
Find out more with Guillaume Duflos, Head of the Physical Chemistry of Fishery and Aquaculture Products Unit, at ANSES’s Food Safety Laboratory.
Endocrine disruptors in food packaging, where are we?
Before 2015, bisphenol A was found in water bottles, baby bottles, receipts, plastic kitchen utensils. Resins containing it were also used to line the inside of tins or cans. The problem is that bisphenol A can under certain conditions detach from the chains produced by polymerization, and therefore pass from containers to contents. In 2017, the Member States Committee of the European Chemicals Agency officially identified bisphenol A as an endocrine disruptor. Manufacturers marketing the products concerned therefore had to replace it with chemical substances with the same technological functions. The problem is that beyond the technological functions, these substitutes sometimes share the same dangerous properties as the substance they replace.
> Explanations with Cécile Michel, toxicologist and head of the chemical substance assessment unit at ANSES.
Why is the additive E171 now banned in our foods?
Titanium dioxide used as a food additive (E171) was banned in France and then in Europe following the latest assessments by health agencies. Nevertheless, other nanomaterials are still used in food and their health effects raise many questions.
> Explanations with Bruno Teste, Scientific project manager in the Food Risk Assessment Unit at ANSES.
Why is it urgent that young people move more?
Forgotten the ancient wisdom closely associating body and mind: our behaviors of inactivity and sedentary lifestyle are sometimes acquired from an early age. The current context is also particularly conducive to an increase in sedentary lifestyles and especially “screen time”, with the development of an abundant digital offer and new technologies that further encourage inactivity. Because being active can be learned, action must be taken at all levels to promote changes in behavior and improve the quality of life of today’s young people and tomorrow’s adults.
> Explanations with Irène Margaritis, Deputy Director of Risk Assessment and Head of the “Food, Animal and Plant Health” area at ANSES’s Risk Assessment Department.