What is a claim?
A claim is any message or representation, which is not mandatory under Community or national legislation, including pictorial, graphic or symbolic representation, in any form, which states, suggests or implies that a food has particular characteristics.
Nutrition Claim
States, suggests or implies that a food has particular beneficial nutritional properties due to the energy, nutrients or other substances provided, not provided or provided in reduced/increased amounts.
Health Claim
States, suggests or implies that a relationship exists between a food category, a food or one of its constituents and health (for example, “aids digestion”).
Under the new Regulation, health claims are divided into the following categories:
- Claims referring to reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health (Article 14)
- Health claims other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children's development and health (Article 13)
- Health claims based on newly developed scientific evidence and/or applications which include a request for the protection of proprietary data (Article 13(5)).
All health claims must adhere to general and specific conditions, be authorised at European level and appear on a Community list of authorised claims in order to be permitted for use on foods.
All health claims will have to be submitted to the FSAI for authorisation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The submission procedure for health claims is dependent upon the type of claim.
Last reviewed: 9/3/2009