The first assessment of existing food health claims by Europe’s food safety watchdog has rejected two thirds of the submissions as unproven.
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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released 523 opinions today and said that only “around a third” were favourable.
As for the rest, an EFSA spokesperson told just-food: “There was either not enough scientific evidence to support the claim or the identification of the substance was unclear.”
Manufacturers had often been too broad in defining a foodstuff covered by a health claim, hindering scientific evaluation, the spokesperson said.
This first round of assessments related mainly to functions of vitamins and minerals, dietary fibres, fatty acids for maintaining cholesterol, and sugar-free chewing gum. Manufacturers disappointed in their applications for an EFSA approval of their health claims can reapply.
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By GlobalDataThere is a long way to go before every submission is considered. The EFSA has another 3,602 health claims to assess under EU regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and food health claims, which insists all such marketing be white-listed.
