Claims cause concern
About a month ago I went to my local supermarket to check what claims for nutrition or health were being made on packaging. Within 10 minutes I had a basket of at least 12 products bearing such claims.
Without exception, all of them would have to be presented differently under the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation. A further surprise was the number of implied claims on foods in my basket: heart-shaped logos were in abundance, while glowing body parts - stomachs and digestive systems - were also much in evidence.
There was also a plethora of "good-for-you" products, prebiotics and probiotics. But do consumers really understand these last two terms? Perhaps 'probiotic', when used in association with a 'friendly bacteria' strapline makes sense, but talking about 'prebiotics' without specifying the relevant substance or its function, does little to enhance consumer understanding. In this aspect, new legislation insisting on an appeal to the "average consumer" has to be beneficial as it has been all too easy to slip technical jargon on to packs.
I estimate that at least 10% of the products I put in my basket carried claims that will have to be changed under the new Regulation. Its requirement that all claims should also be scientifically substantiated is, if my basket is anything to go by, going to involve EFSA in an enormous amount of work.
Dr Janice Harland is a nutrition consultant at Harland Hall. +44 (0)1285 850 661
