Regulating food products without impeding innovation

Industry and regulatory bodies share a common goal of making beneficial pro ducts available to consumers, but the relationship bens een industry and re gulators can become adversarial if it is not handled properly. When industr y views the regulatory process as an obstacle to product development and ma rketing, and regulators view petitioners as having only a profit motive, th e opportunity to work together efficiently to get products to market is los t. While it is difficult to codify, how industry and regulators should inte ract, it is worthwhile to look at some of the most provocative issues and s ee how they might be addressed The discussion that follows will examine the functioning of regulatory bodes in the European Union, consider how more f lexibility might be added to the regulatory process, and raise the issue of how regulatory bodies can function to serve the consumer while promoting i nnovation.