LABELLING - Proposed Draft Recommendations for the Use of Health Claims

A summary of the changes agreed at the last meeting are as follows:

• the title has changed to "Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Use of Nutrition and Health Claims"
• foods for infants and young children are now precluded from carrying health claims unless provided for in specific Codex standards (1.4)
• the definition of 'enhanced function claims' is extended to apply to effects of diet on both physiological and psychological functions (2.2.2)
• The requirements for 'Reduction of disease risk' claims have been amended to cover 'information on the composition of the product relevant to the relationship unless the relationship is based on a whole food or foods whereby the research does not link to specific constituents of the food' (2.2.3, part 2)
• a table giving examples of different types of health claims has been added at the end of the document

The FSA would be grateful for comments on these amendments and views on the following issues which were discussed in the meeting:

• Should the provisions on health claims in Sections 7.1 - 7.4 also apply to health claims made in advertisements?
• Should the statement that health claims must be consistent with national health policy (Preamble) be deleted? Some countries consider that it should be deleted, as it would result in barriers to trade.

Comments on these or any other aspects of the draft text are required by 17th October at the latest.