European parliament votes on Health Claims regulations

The European Parliament voted in favour of the controversial Health Claims regulations at the 2nd Reading. Advertising slogans and labelling featuring health claims will in future have to undergo a lengthy, bureaucratic process of approval, similar to that for pharmaceuticals.
Product innovation has thus been rendered more difficult for medium-sized companies and even authentic claims will be banned. Cough sweets, for instance, may no longer claim to be "soothing" - even if they are.



The regulations will link the reliability and accuracy of nutritional and health claims to the "nutritional profile". For foods containing levels of fat, sugar or salt in excess of the profile limits health claims may no longer be made. Nutritional claims may be made for foods where only one substance exceeds the profile limits, and this must be clearly marked on the label.
MEP Dr Renate Sommer (EVP/CDU) regards the new regulations as a bureaucratic nightmare. During the debate she said this was another example of over-regulation by the European Commission. The regulations treated consumers like children and completely missed the point, which was to combat obesity in children and young people, said Sommer.


The BDSI also criticised the regulations. "These regulations will not result in fewer obese children but in more unemployment. By discontinuing certain products jobs may well be lost," said Dr Dietmar Kendziur, chairman of the BDSI. "Instead of addressing the real causes of obesity a fake solution has been arrived at. Job cuts are only justified in the case of a real threat to public health. And that is not the case here."
Dr Kendziur went on to say : "Now that politicians have failed to come up with a proper regulation we will be forced to consider legal steps. When the case has landed before the ECJ it will then, at the very latest, become clear whether there has been a breach of the law or not."