Regulation of food nutrition and health claims in the European Union

The European Union regulates nutrition and health claims on food products under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. A claim is defined as any message or representation suggesting specific characteristics of a food item. Nutrition claims refer to beneficial nutritional properties based on energy content or the presence or absence of specific nutrients. Health claims denote a relationship between a food component and health. The European Commission determines specific nutrition claims included in the regulation's annex. In contrast, private food companies must generate scientific dossiers to support health claims. These dossiers are submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for approval. EFSA conducts a thorough review of the submitted data to evaluate scientific evidence before granting authorization.