EU regulatory experts debate herbs (don’t panic) and health claims (shout louder)

THMPD: Uniformity is good​

“We are a believer in European harmonisation – we think it is a good thing…that one product can go to all the member states and be distributed with the same labels and the same claims,”​ said owner and president Joerg Gruenwald, PhD.

“[But] every legislation change is good for some people and bad for other people... There will be products coming off the shelves – it’s hard for some companies definitely – but I would say the majority of products will stay on the markets and there will be more uniformity of the products all over Europe.”​

Gruenwald said building files to gain THMPD botanical registrations typically cost at least €100,000, which inevitably meant, “small guys suffer the most”.​

NHCR: Listening is good​

“I think some aspects of batch four are interesting because it shows there are chances to get positive opinions like polyphenols, sugar replacers and other starches,”​ commented senior consultant Christiane Alexander, PhD.

“There is a chance to really convince EFSA in a scientific way of the effects that products can have. But there were many opinions that were again disappointing.”​

She observed the joint health area was particularly disappointing because the “inflammation aspects cannot be dealt with”.​

“There was guidance on joint health but it is not useful because it is just a summary … of the published opinions which we know. We expected something new… that they give us good directions about how we should design the trials and also show a willingness of making this whole thing of the health regulation useful for the industry and for the customers.”​

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Alexander said she hoped a recently announced restructuring at EFSA would improve the chances of dialogue with the agency, including ongoing stakeholder meetings.