Nutrition and Health Claims
Under the EC Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, any food manufacturer
wanting to make a statement about the positive effect a product can have on
health –
known as 'health claims' – must ensure this claim is approved by the European Food
Safety Authority. If it is not, the company must apply for approval.
The Regulation also controls the claims companies can make about the nutritional
composition of foods – known as 'nutrition claims'. These include statements
such as “low in fat” or “high in fibre”. Food manufacturers will only be able to
make these claims if they are listed in the Annex to the Regulation and comply
with the strict requirements relating to the levels of such nutrients in products.
In principle, FDF welcomes the rules which will harmonise the use of claims and
help to protect consumers from false, ambiguous or misleading claims. However,
much uncertainty remains. For example, the European Commission is yet to publish
a list of approved health claims. This list will be adopted progressively by the
EC and Member States taking into account EFSA's opinions. The partial list is
due to be published in the Official Journal in January 2010. This will cover the
first batch on 94 EFSA opinions providing scientific advice on 523 health claims
out of the 4,185 health claims submitted to EFSA by the EC.
It is also still to be decided how the European Commission will establish
'nutrient profiles' for food bearing claims based on the levels of fat, salt
and sugar
within the product and the role of the product within the diet. Certain
products
will be restricted or prohibited from making claims.
FDF hopes that the approach taken by the EC to nutrient profiling will reflect
the importance of a balanced diet and will encourage innovation in all product
categories to address the challenge in offering products that can contribute to
consumers making healthy choices about their diets.
More Information
Last reviewed: 21 Dec 2009