FoodDrinkEurope Welcomes EP ENVI Committee Vote on Health Claims

In a statement FoodDrinkEurope stated that they felt a European-wide list of permitted Article 13.1 health claims list would bring certainty to the consumer, provide information on the beneficial properties of nutrients in food and help consumers to make informed food choices, contributing to balanced diets and healthier lifestyles.

22 Mar 2012 --- European food manufacturers have welcomed the European Parliament ENVI Committee’s rejection of the objection tabled against the list of permitted Article 13 health claims.

Following a lengthy and complex process, this is an important step towards the adoption of 222 scientifically substantiated and permitted Article 13.1 generic health claims on foods as laid down by Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims.

In a statement FoodDrinkEurope stated that they felt a European-wide list of permitted Article 13.1 health claims list would bring certainty to the consumer, provide information on the beneficial properties of nutrients in food and help consumers to make informed food choices, contributing to balanced diets and healthier lifestyles.

The group believe “Harmonization of the use of scientifically substantiated claims on foods across the EU would also encourage industry to continue providing valuable new scientific evidence In view of future health claim applications. FoodDrinkEurope reiterates its call for improved dialogue and guidance between applicants and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide more certainty for food business operators when investing in R&D and innovation to facilitate this further.”

The bill has been highly contested by the Alliance for Natural Health.

Adam Smith, science and communications officer for ANH-Intl who has been at the forefront of ANH-Intl’s lobbying efforts in Brussels, indicated, “Most MEP’s with whom we’ve spoken seem to understand that there are a rash of problems with the regulation, and in particular over EFSA’s methods of assessment of health claims. But they now seem to be fed up with it and many seem to want to push it through, saying that it can be fixed once the highly deficient preliminary list of permitted health claims has been signed off by the parliament.

“We feel they would be doing their constituencies a disservice if they just rubber-stamp such a problematic piece of European law in its current form. More appropriate implementation of the regulation would have great potential to help deal with the major underlying health problems in European society, which are linked to inappropriate diets and nutrient intake.”