Dr Martin served on the old panel, of which about half have been replaced, and is a Professor in Nutrition and Biochemistry at the Medical school at the University of Lyon.
He formerly advised the French Food Agency (ANSES) that approved both lutein-eye and cranberry-urinary tract infection (UTI) claims.
On the divide between being a researcher and an EFSA expert he once told this publication: “A good researcher is not by the way a good expert and reciprocally a good expert is not necessarily the best researcher in the field. It’s quite a different thing.”
“In research you have to address questions on your own, when you are an expert you have to answer a question that is posed by somebody else and you have to answer in a specific context and for the health claims it is the context of the regulation and you cannot ignore this context.”