IMCO votes to delete clauses of health claim regulation

The committee voted to delete article 4 concerning nutrient profiles and article 11 that deals with prohibited claims.

The result of the vote on article 4 was 19 for deletion and 14 against. On article 11, the vote was 20 for deletion and 14 against. On both cases, the EPP (Christian-Democrats) and ALDE (Liberals) voted for deletion, and the PES (Socialists) and Greens voted against deletion.

Miguel Fernandes da Silva, adviser to the European Advisory Services​, told NutraIngredients.com that: "The concept of nutrient profiles (article 4) is unworkable, has no scientific basis and simply doesn't make sense from a nutrition point of view."​

He added: "The proposal contains several provisions (including article 11) which are clearly too restrictive and could hinder industry innovation and product development."​

The IMCO Committee also thought the annex to the proposal - that will list the nutrition claims that products will be allowed to bear - was too restricted in the form that had been proposed by the Commission. They therefore voted to adopt a list of new nutrition claims, which, according to da Silva would "enable consumers to be better informed about the specific benefits of each foodstuff"​.

The adopted claims were: high energy, low fat, high unsaturated fat and/or high soft fat, high polyunsaturated fat, high monounsaturated fat, high omega 3, cholesterol free, low cholesterol, low lactose, lactose free, gluten-free, naturally gluten-free, low sodium, very low sodium, sodium-free, low protein, free of cow's milk protein, rich in short chain omega 3, rich in long chain omega 3.

The IMCO is working in cooperation with the Environment Committee (ENVI) on this issue and therefore after the ENVI has cast its vote tomorrow (Thursday), the adopted reports of both committees will be sent to the European Parliament (EP) plenary for a final vote on 25-26 May.