Brussels, 01/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Some 530 additional health claims on food products have been investigated by the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA), which published its scientific opinions on 30 June. The Commission immediately welcomed their publication.
The latest raft of opinions on health claims for food products is the fifth set published, as required by European law (Regulation 1924/2006 amended by Regulation 109/2008/EC Article 13), to determine if claims made by manufacturers of the benefits of their products for health are justified and can be authorised. It follows the publication of the first four sets of opinions published on 1st October 2009, 25 February 2010, 19 October 2010 and 8 April 2011. The five sets of opinions now take the number of health claims duly assessed on the basis of the information supplied by manufacturers to back up their claims to more than 2,700.
Five more opinions on 35 remaining claims are expected to be published in July. This will finalise the assessment of all claims on substances other than the so-called “botanicals” (see EUROPE 10356). The European Commission will then be in a position to be able to draw up the list of authorised health claims for substances other than plants.
Of a total of 4,600 claims submitted for scientific advice, EFSA still has to assess 1,900 on “botanicals”, which include, for example, Linum usitatissimum, Aloe barbadensis, Hypericum perforatum and Echinacea pallida. http://efsa.europa.eu/en/ndaclaims13.htm (A.N./transl.rt)