Update on Europe’s Health and Nutrition Claims
In the European Union, health and nutrition claims’ regulations were entered into force when they were published in the EU official journal in January 2007 and became applicable as of 1 July 2007. The legislation seeks to standardise nutrition claims, such as “low fat”, for products containing less than 3g of fat per 100g (or in the case of semi-skimmed milk, 1.8g of fat per 100ml), and health claims such as “reduces cholesterol”.
The health claims are classified in the following manner. Article 13 functional claims are based on accepted science such as “good for healthy bones” and will be available for general use, provided that stipulated conditions, including those provided by nutrient profiling, are met. Claims leading to reduction in disease risk and those that refer to children’s development and health, which are treated in a different way, are known collectively as Article 14 claims.
Member states are currently collating the list of existing Article 13 claims, which needs to be submitted to Brussels by January 2008 (although a method exists to submit claims after this date). By the end of the transition period in January 2010, the EU should have published the list of permitted functional health claims. Once submitted, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will have five months to review each dossier to verify if the claim is scientifically substantiated prior to a decision by the Commission.
The process for submitting Article 14 claims for either disease risk reduction or children’s development involves the preparation of a dossier of evidence in a form provided in guidelines published by the Commission.
Currently the EFSA, as part of the work of its Scientific Panel on nutrition, dietetic products and allergies (NDA), is preparing scientific advice on the system to use and implement nutrition profiling that is due to be presented to the EU Commission so it can make its decision by January 2008. This will form part of the stipulated conditions needed to be able to make use of claims.
Consultation with EFSA has been ongoing, including a workshop that will take place in Bologna, Italy, 8-10 November 2007. The lead organisation for the dairy sector is the European Dairy Association, together with the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EEC (CIAA), which continue to be in regular contact with the Commission over such issues as nutritional profiling. Visit www.efsa.europa.eu and www.ciaa.be for more information on these important issues.
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