Food manufacturers' claims back under EU spotlight

FOOD MANUFACTURERS will not be allowed use product labelling to "exploit fear" in consumers, make inappropriate comparisons to other foods or be selective in the nutritional aspects they highlight, under a new system being devised by the European Commission.

The EU's health and consumer protection directorate general, known as DG Sanco, will submit a list of the "thousands" of health claims already in use in member states to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in mid-2008. A final list of the permitted health claims will be adopted in January 2010.

Manufacturers claiming that a food has a specific function - for example, that it improves mental performance or promotes healthy bones - will have to go through a formal EU authorisation process and conduct clinical studies to back up the claim.

"Contains antioxidants" or "contains probiotics" will also be treated as a health claim, while foods that claim to reduce the risk of disease, for example, spreads that claim to lower cholesterol levels, will have to undergo an individual authorisation procedure.

DG Sanco wants to prevent food companies implying that consumers cannot obtain sufficient quantities of the nutrients they need through a balanced diet unless they buy their product.

Christophe Didion, who works in DG Sanco's food law, nutrition and labelling unit, told a labelling seminar in Brussels that it was also important to stop manufacturers "making a true claim, but giving the wrong message". Under the EU's draft regulations, a cereal that claims to be high in fibre will also have to declare, with equal prominence, if it has a high sugar content.

"There is a perception that a food with a claim is better than a food without a claim, and this could lead consumers to make choices about their diet that are contrary to scientific advice," Mr Didion said. "We want to avoid a situation where health claims mask the overall nutritional status of the food."

The introduction of the new labelling rules will be overseen by the EU's new Health Commissioner, Androula Vassiliou, who was appointed to the position on Friday after the former health commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, resigned to become the Cypriot foreign affairs minister.