Update on the EU Rules Concerning Nutrition Claims
- Finland
- 03/05/2010
- Roschier, Attorneys Ltd. - Finland
The general EU rules concerning health and nutrition claims made on foods are laid down in regulation 1924/2006 EC. According to article 8(1) of the regulation, nutrition claims made on foods shall only be permitted if they are listed in the annex of the regulation, which also sets forth the conditions for their use.
Under the regulation, the European Commission was to establish the conditions for the use of nutrition and health claims made on foods by 19 January 2010. As of that date, nutrition claims not included in the annex might be considered technically illegal. This has now caused some uncertainty on the market as certain widely used weight management and sports claims, such as low GI (glycemic index) claims, have not been included in the annex.
However, with regard to omega-3 nutrition claims, also not previously included in the annex, the European Commission issued an amendment to the annex on 9 February 2010. The amendment (Commission regulation 116/2010) sets forth the conditions for the permitted use of nutrition claims related to omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and unsaturated fat.
