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European Flavour Association

EFFA

EFFA is a European non-profit trade association for the flavour industry, based in Brussels.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Antonella Rossetti (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen)

22 Sept 2025 · Presenting the organization and the contribution of the sector in the food chain.

Response to Biotech Act

11 Jun 2025

EFFA represents the European Flavour industry, with a strong SME footprint and global trade. Flavourings (small dose-big impact) are food ingredients providing taste and contributing to more sustainable food systems. As a highly skilled and research-driven sector, it invests four times the EU average in R&D+i. A major part of this innovation goes to development of new flavouring ingredients and production methods (including use of biotechnology) for the generation of new flavouring materials. Microbiological and fermentation processes, including enzymatic processes, play a critical role in the development of the new more sustainable and resilient flavouring ingredients, offering viable alternatives to both natural flavouring materials obtained from botanical sources and other types of flavourings. Therefore, EFFA calls on the inclusion of food within the scope of the EU Biotech Act and to create the necessary supportive regulatory environment for key food ingredients, like flavourings, to be enablers of the shift towards more sustainable food systems. Good for the planet: Biotechnology (and in particular genetic engineering), compared to conventional methods and fermentation techniques offers many advantages, yielding optimised production processes, which means: better use of scarce resources, increased efficiency of the transformation process, less side products and higher yields (less need for elaborate purification steps). The use of biotechnology is closely aligned with the EU Clean Industrial Deal objectives, supporting the Commissions sustainability goals and contributing to the reduction of environmental impact. Good for consumers: Flavourings serve as valuable enablers of healthier eating habits. By improving the appeal of nutritionally improved productssuch as those with reduced salt, sugar, or fatthey help consumers adopt and maintain more balanced diets. Flavour solutions are also key to the success of more sustainable foods such as food products obtained through biotechnology, e.g. microbial proteins replacing animal proteins or plant based cheese alternatives. Good to support EU competitiveness: A strong and lean Biotech Act can foster and keep investments in Europe. Today, innovation and developments in more sustainable and resilient food technologies (a.o. fermentation, microbiological & enzyme catalised reactions) often start in Europe but do not end up into commercialisation. The current complexity of the legal framework that governs the flavour production (i.e the enzyme Regulation) and lengthiness of approvals to market (up to 5 years) hinder competitiveness. Lengthy processes deter companies from committing resources, what begins as a regulatory challenge quickly becomes an economic one, threatening Europes competitiveness in biotechnology. Ensure the success of the Biotech-act One main condition is needed for The Biotech Act to successfully reach its goals. EU institutions need to build trust with consumers and media to gain understanding and acceptance of this technology. The flavour industry was born in Europe and it should remain in Europe (Choose Europe). To achieve this, EFFA calls on the EU to: o Simplify the EU regulatory regime to allow innovation in Europe and reduce the administrative burden to place unique food products (including flavourings generated through biotechnological processes) on the market. o Create an ambitious lean industrial policy to support the Biotech investments and return on investments in Europe. o Update the regulatory framework to benefit innovation. o Develop an education package to explain to consumers what Biotech is. Biotechnology, such as fermentation, has been used for a long time and it is already a market reality. o Ensure a level playing field with conventional methods as biotech is complementary with traditional farming.
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Meeting with Sabine Pelsser (Head of Unit Health and Food Safety)

18 Feb 2025 · Annual meeting to discuss issues in relation to food flavourings

Meeting with Christine Singer (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Sept 2024 · Austausch neue Legislaturperiode

Meeting with Irène Tolleret (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Sept 2023 · Industrie alimentaire de l'Union européenne

Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and BUSINESSEUROPE and

8 Mar 2023 · Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Response to Organics production rules

3 Dec 2019

Ion exchange and adsorption resin techniques are common physical "extraction" processes in the flavour industry that are applied for the isolation/purification of natural flavouring substances/flavouring preparations from natural raw materials. They comply with the requirements of the EU regulation of flavourings (Regulation (EU) No 1334/2008: Art. 3 & Annex II) with regard to the processes considered as natural respectively which are permitted for the manufacturing of natural flavouring substances/flavouring preparations. Furthermore these methods allow to isolate aromas from natural raw materials in a very gentle way i.e. without altering them, which should in fact also be fully in the sense of the Organic Regulation. They are especially used to collect and concentrate volatile flavouring substances from natural raw materials which are otherwise lost (e.g. to obtain so called restoration aromas resulting from the production of fruit juice concentrates and which can be added back to the juice). Therefore these techniques are substential for the production of flavouring ingredients from the named source which form the basis of "natural <X> flavourings" (i.e. flavourings labelled according to Art. 16(4)). This is in general of relevance for all kinds of fruits (in particular yellow and red fruits), vegetables but also other plant materials. Given that only "Natural <X> Flavourings" are approved for organic food, this technology is crucial for the development of products that meet the requirements of the future and cannot be replaced by other technologies/processes. EFFA (European Flavour Association) EU Transparency Register No 7102243339711
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Meeting with Isabelle Magne (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström)

24 Jan 2018 · meeting with EFFA on flavourings

Meeting with Marco Valletta (Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis) and Portland PR Europe Limited

17 Oct 2017 · Flavouring substances