With EFSA rejecting almost 80% of health claims submitted under article 13.1, industry is rightly concerned. However, these opinions are not yet law. Although EFSA has given its opinion and the commission intends to publish the list, the European parliament has still 3 months to look at the opinions and their implementation through the regulatory procedure with scrutiny, which could in theory mean a potential chance to block their adoption into law. If parliament finds that the legislation and its implementation is not inline with the mother regulation then they can veto it, essentially blocking...

Gaining a health claim is one thing but gaining one that makes sense to the general public is another. As part of the general conditions of article 13 claims (Art 13(1)ii) a health claim must be ‘well understood by the average consumer’. Claims must also protect the consumer from being misled, and balancing these two issues is causing some difficulties when the Commission is to provide guidance on the flexibility of claim wording. In a recent meeting between the Commission and Member States (MS) on the 12th April 2010, the issue of how flexible EFSA approved claim wording could be was discussed....

As part of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR) EFSA was to implement and set the criteria for what is an acceptable nutrient profile for foods carrying an approved health claim. Nutrient profiles (Article 4) were added to the regulation to avoid a situation where using a health claim on label could potentially mask a poor nutritional status (i.e. high fat or high sugar) of a food product. As such the development of specific criteria governing the circumstances in which claims can be made are a vital component of the NHCR. Despite the requirement for nutrient profiles in the regulation...

According to a publication in the Journal ‘Food Policy’ researchers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have shown that certain health claims can negatively influence the perception of a functional food. The researchers initiated a 30 minute online questionnaire, which was subsequently completed by 4612 respondents (All from Nordic countries). [An audio discussion about the research available on the link below] Online participants were shown four product descriptions. One of these had no health claim, and the other three carried claims that differed on structure, active ingredient,...

As of the 19th of January 2010 ‘nutrition claims’ such as low GI, Isotonic and hypotonic are under threat by enforcement bodies throughout the EU. For those in the weight management or sports nutrition market, labelling and other forms of commercial communication using such claims could be removed by enforcement agencies. Under the terms of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (EC No 1924/2006) those claims not currently contained within the 24 approved claims in the Annex (Article 8 ) cannot legally be maintained. The Annex of the regulation provides a list of specific nutrition...

On October the 30th 2009 the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) revised its TV and radio advertising codes so to not conflict with the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR) 1924/2006. This means that advertisements will now be viewed and assessed in relation to decisions and opinions related to the NHCR. The adoption of the regulation was brought into immediate effect. This follows the earlier integration of the NHCR within the CAP code (Covered in our Blog in Jan 2009), a code governing the advertising (broadcast and non-broadcast) of consumer goods in the UK. Although...

Following the significant damage of the first wave of article 13.1 opinions by EFSA and subsequent 70% rejection rate, what can industry do now given EFSA will not re-assess these claims via the 13.1 process, even if new or additional data is available? Well there are potentially 2 routes, firstly is article 13.5 for newly developed scientific data (submitted via the procedures under art 15-18), or secondly via Article 13.4 for claims which meet generally accepted scientific evidence. Article 13.4 of the health claims directive (1924/2006) should be adopted in accordance with article 24(2) relating...

EFSA and the Food Safety Commission (FSC) of Japan have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the collection and sharing of data required for the assessment of current and emerging risks. As crops, animals and food products are transported around the globe, so can the risks associated with the food chain. Ensuring access to a larger pool of international data is one of the priorities of EFSA’s international strategy. The Food Safety Commission of Japan, like EFSA, is responsible for the assessment of risks associated with the food chain and gives independent scientific advice to risk managers...

LIPObind from Goldshield Ltd has been really pushed as a weight loss aid in 2009. Despite multiple cautions from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the past 2 years because of unsubstantiated product claims (including another for LIPObind only a month earlier), Goldshield are still marketing the product for weight loss…But at what cost? According to the September 16th ASA adjudication, LIPObind is still trying to market this product by function and name as a weight loss product. Although, LIPObind is classified as a Class IIa Medical Device the directive attached to this classification...

Over 4000+ health claims dossiers submitted to EFSA for review where expected earlier in the summer of 2010 however with vast number to be assessed, EMP elections, and continued discussions between the industry and EFSA has lead to a delay in response. However, recent discussions between EFSA and key European trade organizations have commented that at least some opinions will be released in September. There have been some significant issues with the way generic type health claims would be assessed by EFSA but one of the side issues has been the way these opinions would be released. Initially,...