Advice on making authorised nutrition and health claims in line with new European legislation is now available on the Seafish website www.seafish.org
The European Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation EC 1924/2006 (NHCR) came into force on 1 July 2007. It controls any nutrition, health and disease reduction claims made about a food. There was a transition period for the implementation of this Regulation which came into effect in January this year.
The new regulation has resulted in a change to the legal requirement for making and using claims. All nutrition and health claims previously used now have to be approved under the NHCR.
This means claims important for the seafood industry such as ‘High in Omega-3’ or ‘Rich in Omega-3’, have had to be submitted for re-assessment, but the process is still not complete.
The Commission was expected to publish its definitive list of approved claims by the end of 2010. By May 2010 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had published 125 opinions providing scientific advice for more than 900 ‘general function’ health claims, out of a list of 4,637 claims submitted to EFSA by the European Commission between July 2008 and March 2010.
Fiona Wright from Seafish Legislation said: “This prolonged assessment period and the fact there are different rules for nutrition and health claims has created confusion.
“A nutrition claim such as ‘High in Omega-3’ is a claim that characterises the energy value of the food. Such a claim can now only be used on products if it is included within the NHCR.
“There is a bit more leniency for health claims. A health claim implies that a relationship exists between the consumption of a food or an ingredient in the food and a person’s health. Due to the delays, claims that are already in use can still be used if they been submitted for approval and are awaiting a decision, but once rejected by EFSA or the Commission then it can no longer be used.”
“It is also worth noting that is it possible to make claims which fall outside the scope of the new regulation. Government messages are not included, therefore the ‘2 a week’ message to encourage the consumption of two portions of fish a week one of which should be oil rich, can be legitimately used on products without complying with the NHCR,” she said.
With so many issues to consider, the new Seafish industry note gives guidance on the health and nutrition claims that have been approved, or are likely to be approved, and which may be useful in seafood promotion.
To date there have been positive opinions on iron, zinc, selenium and DHA/EPA which are all found in seafood. It is intended to be a guide to the rules and criteria related to making approved claims.
