Brussels, 16/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - In the future the European Commission wants to see all nutritional and health claims to be scientifically proved, which will prevent consumers being given false information and on the contrary provide them with quality, reliability and useful information. With this end, the Commission is also proposing to regulate nutrition and health claims made on foods, including food supplements. Therefore, a draft regulation was approved on Wednesday at the college and will be submitted to the Parliament and Council. The regulation will allow loopholes in Community legislation regarding labelling of foodstuffs and nutritional labelling to be filled in (directives 2000/13/EC and 90/496/ECC) which currently do not stipulate under what conditions these claims can apply and which do not authorise health claims to be made.
During a press conference, David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, underlined the importance of the proposed legislation for consumers and industry, "Consumers will receive accurate and meaningful information while food producers will be able to use serious and scientifically substantiated claims as a marketing tool without being drowned out by the many unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims that currently exist on the market. Furthermore, the creation of a Regulation at EU-level will enable operators to compete on a fair and equal basis in all EU Member States”. The Commission proposals are as follows:
Any information about foods and their nutritional value used in labelling, marketing and advertising which is not clear, accurate and meaningful and cannot be substantiated will not be permitted. This concerns vague claims such as "helps your body to resist stress", "preserves youth") or claims making reference to psychological and behavioural functions (eg “improves your memory” or slimming or e.g. "halves/reduces your calories intake". Reference to and endorsement by doctors or health professionals will not be permitted as they might suggest that not eating the specified food might lead to health problems.
Health claims on alcoholic beverages above 1.2 % will also not be allowed consumers could be encouraged to make mistakes in the belief that they are acting in good faith and for health reasons. Only claims referring to a reduction in alcohol or energy content, will be allowed.
The use of nutritional claims regarding what is or is not contained in food will only be allowed if they comply with the conditions established by the Commission in a harmonised list clearly establishing what has been scientifically covered in the terms that have been used. This list provided in the annex to the regulation contains around twenty claims (low in energy, energy-reduced, energy-free, low fat, fat-free, low saturated fat, saturated fat-free, low sugars, sugar-free, without added sugars, low sodium/salt, enriched or fortified in vitamins and/or minerals etc).
Therefore an operator cannot claim that a food is energy-reduced, and claim that this is the same meaning for the consumer, unless "the energy value is reduced by at least 30%, with an indication of the characteristic(s), which make(s) the food reduced in its total energy value" . Claims cannot be admitted which claim that a food is fat-free, unless "the product contains no more than 0.5g of fat per 100g or 100ml. In the case of foods naturally fat-free, the term “naturally” may be used as a prefix to this claim.
It is currently prohibited to make any claims that are misleading to consumers (health claims refer to what a food or a food component does to the consumer). Many health claims regarding the role of a nutrient in the body are uncontroversial and well established, such as the claim that calcium plays an important role in strengthening the teeth and bones.
Health claims can only be allowed on the basis of the list established by the Commission three years after the entry into force of the regulation. This list includes all claims that are uncontested such as for example the affirmation that calcium strengthens bones and teeth. Any other claims authorisation will be needed in view of what is being authorised but obtaining this will depend on the results of scientific assessment carried out by the European Food Safety Authority. Only claims that have been proved will duly be authorised at a Community level.