Article 13 Health Claims(2)
These are health claims describing or referring:
- to the role of a nutrient or other substance in growth, development and the functions of the body; or
- to psychological and behavioural functions; or
- without prejudice to Directive 96/8/EC, slimming or weight control or reduction in the sense of hunger or an increase in the sense of satiety or to the reduction of the available energy from the diet.
List of Article 13 Health Claims for Ireland
Under Article 13 of Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 Member States were required to submit lists of such claims, accompanied by the conditions applying to them (see section on Conditions for the use of nutrition and health claims) and references to relevant scientific justification to the European Commission by 31 January 2008.
In Ireland the FSAI, with support and input from the Department of Health and Children, compiled the list of Article 13 health claims submissions for Ireland. The List was collated using an on-line process. All claims submitted via the FSAI Article 13 online submissions process between June and December 2007 were included in the List. The claims on the List of Article 13 Health Claims Submissions for Ireland do not represent claims that are in any way endorsed or approved by the FSAI or the Department of Health and Children.
The List consists of 314 separate submissions. The following outlines some of the main features of the List:
- The FSAI checked the completeness of claim submissions and supporting information required in Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Any relevant findings from this checking process are highlighted in a column entitled ‘Remarks’.
- In terms of checking scientific references to the evidence substantiating claims, it should be noted that an evaluation of the evidence was not conducted by the FSAI as this is the role of the European Food Safety Authority. Nonetheless indications are provided in the ‘Remarks’ column if references do not appear to be relevant or if they could not be located (Food Business Operators were contacted in the instance of the latter).
- Claims which are considered to be Article 14 claims, borderline Article 14 claims or nutrition claims are identified in the column entitled ‘Remarks’.
- The remark ‘Submission complete’ is assigned in cases where claims are considered to come under the scope of Article 13, the wording of the claim is stated, and references relating to the diet and health relationship are cited and can be located. The FSAI submission process ensured that data on conditions for use were included.
- Food Business Operators were advised that it was preferable to make separate submissions for each diet and health relationship. Most submissions relate to claims about a single diet and health relationship. However some claims refer to more than one diet and health relationship e.g. calcium is good for bones and promotes a healthy heart.
- There are many duplicates on the List in terms of submissions relating to the same diet and health relationship. For example several submissions were received in relation to calcium and bone health.
- Most submissions relate to a diet and health relationship in general; however some claims are product specific.
The List of Article 13 Health Claims Submissions for Ireland is presented in MS Excel format and is best viewed electronically. It has not been possible to print a copy of the List as the content of some of the cells in the spreadsheet have been condensed in print preview. In order to view the full content of each submission it may be necessary to double click on the individual cells in Excel.
List of Article 13 Health Claims Submissions for Ireland
Processing of claims on the Article 13 list
The European Commission, following consultation with EFSA, will adopt a Community list of permitted claims, along with all the necessary conditions for use of these claims, by January 31st 2010.
Process flow for the authorisation process for Article 13 claims
Food business operators requested to check EFSA consolidated list.
EFSA has now published the consolidated list of Article 13 health claims on their website. Find more information here
Last reviewed: 23/12/2009