'Antioxidants inside': Nutrition or health claim?

By Shane Starling

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Leatherhead food research Food safety authority Nutrition

Dr Mary Gilsenen, head of regulatory services at Leatherhead Food Research explains why simply using the term ‘antioxidant’ on a product can be a health claim.

Dr Gilsenen spoke to Shane Starling after the NutraIngredients Antioxidants​ 2010 conference in Brussels about how antioxidant marketing is evolving under complex European claims regulations.

“Antioxidants were classified as health claims even though you would think they would be classified as nutrition claims and that’s because of the perceived health benefits associated with antioxidants by consumers,” ​she said.

Prebiotics such as inulin have also been specified by the European Commission as being implied health claims, Gilsenen said.

“It’s potentially a very alarming situation for the food industry,” ​she said whilst observing the market remained buoyant, and until the opinions delivered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) were written into the lawbooks, antioxidant claims remained permissible.

Related news

Show more

Related products

show more

Golden Omega® Sustainability Strategy

Golden Omega® Sustainability Strategy

Content provided by LEHVOSS Nutrition | 11-Sep-2023 | Data Sheet

Commitment to sustainability at Golden Omega® is ever growing as they continue to put objectives in place to secure a better environment for the future....

Omega-3:Nutrition and Application Insight

Omega-3:Nutrition and Application Insight

Content provided by Cabio Biotech (Wuhan) Co., Ltd | 31-Jul-2023 | White Paper

Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have numerous positive health benefits and are among the most extensively studied micronutrients....

Full Vegan Protein Ingredients Solution

Full Vegan Protein Ingredients Solution

Content provided by Ingredients4u AG | 24-Jul-2023 | Product Brochure

Plant-based products have always been a hot topic in the market, the plant-based food market was valued at $29.4 billion in 2020.

BioCell Collagen Science Review

BioCell Collagen Science Review

Content provided by BioCell Technology, LLC | 13-Jul-2023 | White Paper

BioCell Collagen® is a clinically studied dietary supplement ingredient composed of naturally-occurring hydrolyzed collagen type II peptides, chondroitin...

Related suppliers

1 comment

antioxidants - health claim

Posted by Michael Kourouklaris,

Silly me... I thought the object of antioxidants as additives was to extend product shelf life... sorry, and with all due respects... more scientific claptrap!!! Lets keep food description and labeling as simple as possible.

Report abuse

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars