Regulating food products without impeding innovation

Industry and regulatory bodies share a common goal of making beneficial products available to consumers, but the relationship between industry and regulators can become adversarial if it is not handled properly. When industry views the regulatory process as an obstacle to product development and marketing, and regulators view petitioners as having only a profit motive, the opportunity to work together efficiently to get products to market is lost. While it is difficult to codify how industry and regulators should interact, it is worthwhile to look at some of the most provocative issues and see how they might be addressed. The discussion that follows will examine the functioning of regulatory bodies in the European Union, consider how more flexibility might be added to the regulatory process, and raise the issue of how regulatory bodies can function to serve the consumer while promoting innovation.