Nutrition and Health Claims
Under the EC Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods,
any food manufacturer wanting to make a statement about the positive effect a
product can have on health – known as 'health claims' – 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.
The Annex has recently been amended to include the five fatty acid claims
(source of omega-3 fatty acids, high omega 3 fatty-acids, high monounsaturated
fat,
high polyunsaturated fat and high unsaturated fat) and a proposal for
additional
claims to be added to the Annex is being discussed by the European Commission.
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. In particular:
- the European Commission was due to adopt a list of permitted Article 13.1
health claims by 31 January 2010 but this deadline was not met. The European
Commission is now intending adopt this list in tranches - the partial list
covering the
first batch of 94 EFSA opinions is not due to be published in the Official
Journal until December 2010 at the earliest.
- the European Commission was due to establish nutrient profiles for foods bearing
claims by 19 January 2009 but this work has been delayed due to the difficulty
in reaching agreement on the levels of fat, salt and sugar, the product
categories and the exemptions
More Information
Last reviewed: 07 Jun 2010