EU Claims Regulation Will Provide New Challenges for Product Marketing in 2012 – EAS

Companies should find ways of benefitting from the use of already approved heath claims and carefully check that their claims dossier and scientific studies conform to EFSA standards before filing a new claims application.

3/18/2011 --- The European Union’s (EU) Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation will mean food companies must explore new marketing opportunities an industry adviser has said.

Stefanie Geiser, Regulatory Affairs Manager at international food and nutrition policy consultancy EAS, said that while there is still a lot of uncertainty relating to the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) expectations for health claims dossiers, a lot can already be learnt and incorporated into new marketing strategies from the opinions it has given so far.

“The claims regulation has fundamentally changed the marketing rules for communicating health messages on food products,” said Geiser, “but it has not closed the door. Companies should find ways of benefitting from the use of already approved heath claims and carefully check that their claims dossier and scientific studies conform to EFSA standards before filing a new claims application.”

“Marketing will continue, but in a different form and with more significant limitations,” she added. “Companies need to be considering now how to benefit from future opportunities.”

To address this in more detail and help companies offset possible challenges, Geiser will join EAS Senior Advisor Patrick Coppens at a workshop on 9 June 2011 in Brussels, giving companies concrete advice on how to tackle the claims regulation.

Titled “Claims: Dealing with the present, planning for the future”, the workshop will give insight into the European Commission’s new policy for the adoption of the Article 13 list and strategies on how to best benefit from the Article 13 transition period, and the Commission’s plans relating to claims for botanicals.

At the workshop Geiser and Coppens will also clarify the steps for companies wanting to submit further information on Article 13 claims that are still on the grey list, such as probiotics and "insufficient" claims, give tips towards the best chance of a successful claims application to EFSA, and lay out the future playing field for claims in the EU.

“Successful marketing in the future will depend heavily on knowing the regulation's application, including its impact on possible marketing messages, to find and exploit new possibilities,” said Geiser.