29/11/2010
A clutch of widely-used nutrition claims including phrases such as '10% less fat’ have been in a state of legal limbo as regulators decide whether to allow them on pack.
Technically, such claims are already illegal in the EU as they are not on the Regulation's annex of permitted nutrition claims, which came into force on January 19 2010. But now that this deadline has passed, there is no official date by which additions to the list must be finalised.
In the meantime, UK trading standards officers have been advised to adopt a ‘pragmatic’ approach to enforcement given that several claims are still under consideration for inclusion in the annex.
Food and Drink Federation (FDF) director of food safety and science Barbara Gallani told Food Manufacture.co.uk that there had been no progress on the nutrition annex since the summer.
They are also anxiously waiting for the Commission to finalise the controversial nutrient profiling model outlined in the Regulation, which is designed to prevent firms from making health claims on foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar.
The model, which is being developed by DG Sanco (the European Commission’s directorate general for health and consumers), was supposed to be completed in January 2009, but as with all aspects of the health claims Regulation, the timetable has slipped.
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