Stakeholders’ perception of the nutrition and health claim regulation

Abstract

In 2007, the Nutrition and Health Claim Regulation (NHCR) entered into force, which required scientific substantiation of health claims. In the field of antioxidants, most proposed claims were negatively assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This study reviews the perception of the NHCR of 14 Dutch stakeholders to unravel the grounds for disproving the putative health claims. Most claims are shown to be refused based on the quality of scientific substantiation, due to usage of scientific methods on which no consensus has been reached and the differences in expectations and requirements. Three themes exemplify the need for improvement in applying the NHCR: (i) enforcement; (ii) methodology; and (iii) perceived impact of the NHCR. With highly diverging perceptions of stakeholders, the current effectiveness of the NHCR can be questioned. The views of different stakeholders on these themes help to focus the discussion on the NCHR in capturing health effects.

• Antioxidants
• bioactive compounds
• biomarker
• functional food
• health food
• healthy benefits
• nutrition

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all interviewees for their participation in the study. We thank Nathalie Baltus for assisting in the transcription of interviews and brainstorms about the analysis. Prof. Dr. Ellen Vos is gratefully acknowledged for fruitful discussions on the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Notes

¹Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods. Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 is amended by Regulation (EC) No. 107/2008; Regulation (EC) No. 109/2008; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 116/2010; and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1047/2012.

²Commission Regulation (EU) No. 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health. Regulation 432/2012 is amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 536/2013; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 851/2013; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1018/2013; and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 40/2014, adding seven article 13.1 and four article 13.5 claims to the list found in the Annex.

³Due to dynamics of the interviews, three questions were added throughout the interviews and the order of questions was changed.