Commissioner Varhelyi's interactions on food sweeteners
Dear Health and Food Safety,
On behalf of foodwatch international and under the right of access to information enshrined in the EU treaties and Regulation 1049/2001, I would like to request access to:
- All documents containing information about meetings held between Health Commissioner Olivier Varelhyi and representatives from his cabinet with stakeholders on the topic of food sweeteners, including but not limited to, aspartame since 1st January 2025. The scope includes meeting agendas, meeting minutes, meeting supporting documents, or other records of such meetings.
- All correspondence documents between the Health commissioner and/or his cabinet and stakeholders on the topic of food sweeteners, including aspartame, since 1st January 2025.
Yours faithfully,
Natacha Cingotti
foodwatch international
Mundo-Madou
7-8 avenue des arts
B-1210
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 23/06/2025 and registered on 23/06/2025 under the case number
2025/3270.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 14/07/2025. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
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Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
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1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Mrs Cingotti,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 23 June 2025 under case number EASE 2025/3270.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on Monday 14 July 2025.
The application different Services which have been consulted.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 4 August 2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
SANTE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
References
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1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...
For the attention of Ms Natacha Cingotti
Dear Ms Cingotti,
We would like to inform you that the reply to your requests for access to
documents, EASE 2025/3269 and 2025/3270 is delayed due to ongoing
consultations of third parties.
We are doing our utmost to provide you with the required documents and
apologize for the delay.
We thank you very much for your understanding.
Kind regards,
SANTE E2
European Commission
Health and Food Safety Directorate-General
Unit E2 – Food Processing Technologies and Novel Foods
The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission.
Dear [email address],
I am writing to follow up on your message from August 4th and ask if you have more details on the prospective timeline for finalising your consultations with third parties and for sending the documents.
Many thanks for any piece of new information that you can share.
Yours sincerely,
Natacha Cingotti
For the attention of Ms Natacha Cingotti
Dear Ms Cingotti,
Thank you for your email.
We can confirm that for case EASE 2025/3269 we have identified all
documents and are waiting for the input of some consulted third parties.
The reply will then be launched in the workflow and sent to you as soon as
it is signed at the appropriate level.
The reply for case EASE 2025/3270 is already prepared and signed and will
be sent to you soon.
We apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards,
SANTE E2
European Commission
Health and Food Safety Directorate-General
Unit E2 – Food Processing Technologies and Novel Foods
The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission.
,Dear Ms Cingotti,
Please find attached a reply to your access to documents request.
Could you please acknowledge the receipt of this message by return email.
With best regards,
European Commission
DG Health and Food Safety
SANTE E2 - Food processing technologies and novel foods
Dear Health and Food Safety,
I am writing to confirm that I have received your message and documents.
I would also like to ask you to carry out a review of all the documents you have regarding exchanges between the cabinet of the Commissioner Varhelyi and third parties.
Indeed, as per the online agenda of the cabinet meetings, it seems that a meeting took place on 9th April 2025 with several soda companies on the topic of obesity and food safety, which could suggest that actions regarding not only sugar but also sweeteners was discussed.
https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyinitiat...
Could you therefore kindly check your records to ensure that you have shared with us all existing documents pertaining to exchanges on the topic of sweeteners?
Yours faithfully,
Natacha Cingotti