Minutes of the Meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland on Tuesday 16 April 2019 at 1.30pm in the FSAI – The Market 1.
PRESENT
- Prof. Albert Flynn (Chair) [AF]
- Prof. Brian McKenna [BMcK]
- Ms Ita Saul [IS]
- Dr Eleanor McNamara [EMcN]
- Mr Ray Parle [RP]
- Mr John Keegan [JK]
- Prof. Kevin Cashman [KC] (by teleconference)
- Dr Margaret O’Sullivan [MOS] (by teleconference)
IN ATTENDANCE
- Dr Pamela Byrne [PB]
- Dr Mary Flynn [MFL]
- Ms Oonagh Lyons [OL]
- Ms Judith Giles [JG]
APOLOGIES
- Dr Geraldine Duffy [GD]
- Dr Mark Fenelon [MF]
- Dr Donal Sammin [DS]
- Dr Michael O’Keeffe [MOK]
- Ms Paula Barry Walsh [PBW]
- Dr P J Cullen [PJC]
The Chair thanked participants for making themselves available for the meeting.
Noted: This meeting was convened to discuss the Health Eating Guidelines draft report. The recommendations were redrafted based on the feedback from the last meeting and some comments received. The revised text and the comments relating to food-based dietary recommendations were reviewed by the committee. A number of clarifications and amendments to the text were agreed. The recommendation on fish will be checked. The dental recommendations will be moved and an additional recommendation on beverages will be included. It was noted that the wording should be consistent with the HEG report for the general population. The Executive Summary should clarify the intended audience for the report.
A recommendation of a low dose Vitamin D only supplement for at risk groups on a seasonal basis was discussed. It was noted that the scientific evidence for this needs to be clearly outlined in the report; the text currently supports supplementation all year round. The next steps will be discussed and another meeting may be convened.