On December 9, 2019, the European Commission published the Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/2094 of 29 November 2019 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the extension of the approval periods of the active substances benfluralin, dimoxystrobin, fluazinam, flutolanil, mancozeb, mecoprop-P, mepiquat, metiram, oxamyl and pyraclostrobin.

On December 12, 2019, the European Commission published a set of regulations and a directive regarding official controls which apply from December 14, 2019.

This study, recently published in The Journal of Nutrition, examined between-diet gut bacterial differences in individuals at increased cardiovascular risk following diets that replaced saturated fatty acids (SFAs) with walnuts or vegetable oils.

On January 1, 2020, the European Commission published the Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2197 of 19 December 2019 amending Regulation (EU) No 1387/2013 suspending the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial products.

A recent review, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, aimed to determine if nut consumption decreased mortality and/or the risk of cardiometabolic diseases based on updated meta-analysis studies.

On December 17, 2019, the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Partnership Agreement was extended until December 31, 2020.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published the Reasoned Opinion on the Modification of the existing maximum residue levels for spirotetramat in small fruits and berries.

On December 4, 2019, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) launched a public consultation on the Draft Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in food.

A study, recently published in The Journal of Nutrition, and carried out by researchers from The Pennsylvania State University examined how a walnut-rich diet affects cholesterol metabolism.