Byrne bids to clamp down on misleading health claims

Date: 10/07/03

By Karen Carstens

HEALTH and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne is expected to launch an initiative on nutritional and health claims listed on food products and on advertisements next Wednesday (16 July) that aims to stamp out potentially misleading promotional terms - such as "light" or "this may purify your organism".

While the food industry by and large welcomes the proposal, the advertising sector appears to have more qualms, said Byrne spokeswoman Beate Gminder.

Oliver Gray, director general of the European Advertising Standards Alliance, said the Commission could end up "strangling" the advertising industry with detailed and costly rules before fully evaluating the self-regulation system already in place".

Gminder said the new rules, expected to enter into force by late 2005, would be broken down into two general categories.

For the first, focusing on nutritional claims, the Commission would provide a complete list of precise benchmarks and definitions detailing exactly when a product may be labelled, for instance, "light", "high in fibre" or "low in sodium". Only less than 3% fat content in food and 1.5% fat content in drinks would allow for a "light" label. "A product that is 90% fat free is not necessarily low in fat," Gminder said.

A second broad category would focus on "generally recognized" claims, such as "calcium prevents osteoporosis", as well as the more nebulous come-ons, such as "this product will keep you young". Most of the latter would be forbidden under the new rules, Gminder said.

Health claims for beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages would also be banned. Only "light" or "alcohol-free" labels would still be allowed on beer.

Rules already exist in most member states, but their mode of implementation varies widely from Denmark, which has a very strict system of filtering out false or misleading claims, to Germany, where rules exist but are hardly observed.

Thierry Dieux, spokesman for the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA), said that food and drink producers look forward to the new proposal, the first of its kind, because it would finally "create a level playing field" on health claims for the EU. At the same time, he warned, the CIAA remains concerned that if the new system is "too restrictive, then it might not have the desired effect of stimulating innovation".

The snack foods sector, for instance, could be hit hard, with bags of crisps no longer allowed to be emblazoned with "light" logos.

Byrne has indicated that he would like very salty and very sugary foods to be banned from bearing any claims at all. Food producers fear this could put a damper on scientific advancements that could make processed foods truly healthier.

The commissioner has also said that the new labelling regime would surely not spark a new GMO-style trade row with the US, as Washington has an "excellent labelling regime" from which the EU could learn.

The European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne, is expected to launch on 16 July 2003 an initiative to stop misleading nutritional and health claims listed on food products and in advertisements.

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