27/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 27 September, the European Commission announced its intentions of restructuring the process for the phased adoption of the list of health claims permitted on food labels (also known as “Article 13, the claims”). Without departing from the principle of the gradual adoption of the list, the Commission hopes to make practical changes to the process. The list of authorised claims will therefore be drafted in two stages. Firstly, the list of health claims authorised for all substances other than “plants” will be adopted as a single stage. The opinions of EFSA on all applications other than “plants” will be finalised by the end of June 2011. The claims concerning plants will be examined subsequently. (B.C./transl.fl)