On the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods

(2023/2081(INI))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Articles 168 and 169 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods,

–having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety,

–having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers,

–having regard to Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements,

–having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods,

–having regard to Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control,

–having regard to its resolution of 20 October 2021 on a farm to fork strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system,

–having regard to the Commission communication of 20 May 2020 entitled ‘A Farm to Fork Strategy – for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system’ (COM(2020)0381),

–having regard to the Commission staff working document of 20 May 2020 entitled ‘Executive summary of the evaluation of the Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods with regard to nutrient profiles and health claims made on plants and their preparations and of the general regulatory framework for their use in foods’ (SWD(2020)0096),

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure, as well as Article 1(1)(e) of, and Annex 3 to, the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

– having regard to the report of the Subcommittee on Public Health (A9-0000/2023),

A.whereas Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 (The NHCR) applies to voluntary nutrition and health claims on foods in all commercial communications, including in labelling and advertising, as well as communications to health professionals; whereas the Commission approves health claims that are grounded in scientific evidence and comprehensible to consumers, following a scientific assessment of the claims by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA);

B.whereas claims can be categorised into ‘Function Health Claims’, ‘Risk Reduction Claims’ and ‘Claims referring to children’s development’; whereas in July 2023, 269 health claims were authorised for use in the EU;

C.whereas at least 18 % of new products entering the EU food and drink market carry nutrition or health claims, with an estimated quarter of all foods available on the EU market bearing such claims;

D.whereas the presence of nutrition or health claims affects consumers’ food choices, along with other characteristics such as price, brand, colour and packaging shape; whereas health claims, especially risk reduction claims, have more of an impact on consumers’ attitudes than nutrition claims; whereas consumer understanding of nutrition and health claims is influenced by various factors, including nutritional knowledge and education levels;

E.whereas the NHCR mandated the Commission to set nutrient profiles for foods or specific food categories by 19 January 2009; whereas nutrient profiles have yet to be set up in practice; whereas, in 2020, the Commission evaluation report on the NHCR reaffirmed the need to develop nutrient profiles as a tool to protect consumers from being exposed to health claim-bearing foods with poor nutritional compositions; whereas the Farm to Fork Strategy reaffirmed that nutrient profiles should be set in order to restrict the marketing and promotion of unhealthy foods via nutritional and health claims;

F.whereas, in its 2021 resolution on the Farm to Fork Strategy, Parliament explicitly welcomed the announcement of a legislative proposal to establish nutrient profiles in order to prohibit the use of nutrition and health claims on foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt and called for particular attention to be given to food for children and other special purpose foods;

G.whereas consumers continue to be exposed to positive nutrition or health claims on foods high in fat, salt or sugar, which is incompatible with the objective of high-level consumer protection;

H.whereas weight problems and obesity are increasing rapidly in most Member States, with more than half of European adults and one in three children being overweight or obese;

I.whereas, in 2012, the Commission established an ‘on-hold’ list of 2 078 health claims relating to plant substances, mainly due to the absence of human intervention studies, which led to the suspension of the EFSA assessment and authorisation procedure in 2010; whereas the ‘on-hold’ health claims – both those negatively assessed and those not yet reviewed – may still be used on the EU market according to the transitional measures set out in the NHCR, until a decision on the ‘on-hold’ list is taken;

J.whereas consumers are thus exposed to health claims with varying levels of scientific assessment, including claims that have yet to be authorised on botanical products;

K.whereas the legislation on botanicals in foods and food supplements is not harmonised at EU level; whereas Member States either have positive, negative or no lists of botanical substances permitted in foods; whereas the classification of botanicals as either food or medicine lies within the competence of each individual Member State;

L.whereas herbal medicines must undergo authorisation procedures before their introduction to the EU market, necessitating the demonstration of product safety, quality and efficacy; whereas herbal medicines that have been safely used for 30 years, including 15 years in the EU, can use a simplified registration procedure for traditional herbal medicinal products, where ‘traditional use’ data is accepted to substantiate the safety and efficacy of the product;

M.whereas Member States are responsible for enforcing the NHCR within their jurisdictions; whereas Member States are obliged to apply the principle of mutual recognition; whereas, due to interpretation differences and enforcement discrepancies between Member States, enforcement actions following the incorrect use of claims vary, ranging from advice on how to adjust claims to fines for their improper use;

N.whereas social media significantly contributes to the advertising and sale of foods and food supplements, while the extent to which the NHCR regulates health-related online communications about foods remains unclear; whereas influencer or celebrity communications on social media are not always clearly commercial or non-commercial and can lead to unverified false and misleading claims on food products;

1.Notes that the NHCR’s main objective is to ensure that claims on foods are based on generally accepted scientific evidence and can be expected to be understood by the average consumer; underlines that, in practice, misleading claims are still reported in both online and offline sales of food;

2.Points out an increasing consumer interest in food information; stresses the need to ensure that information about the nutritional or health values of foods appearing on labels and being used for presentation, marketing and advertising purposes is accurate and meaningful;

3.Stresses the need to ensure that health claims remain aligned with EU health policies and priorities; reaffirms the importance of the Commission’s discretion to not authorise claims when they could result in conflicting and confusing messages being conveyed to consumers;

Consideration of nutrient profiles in health claim assessments

4.Reminds that, according to Article 4 of the NHCR, the Commission should have established nutrient profiles to restrict the use of nutrition and health claims on foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt by January 2009; regrets the fact that the Commission proposal on nutrient profiles has not yet been submitted, despite being planned for 2022 as part of a revision of EU legislation on food information to consumers;

5.Reminds that claims should not mislead consumers about the true nutrient value of a product; highlights that, in the absence of nutrient profiles, claims can stress a positive aspect of an overall unhealthy product; underlines that the development of nutrient profiles is necessary in order to achieve the consumer protection objective of the NHCR; calls for the swift publication of a Commission proposal on nutrient profiles to limit the use of nutrition and health claims on unhealthy foods;

Consumer information

6.Highlights that consumers tend to overconsume food products bearing claims to promote better health, which is known as the ‘halo-effect’; advocates for the inclusion of both minimum and maximum usage thresholds on product labels, along with a recommendation to consult a healthcare professional before consuming food supplements in order to avoid potential adverse interactions with specific treatments;

Relevance of claims

7.Notes that many of the claims used on the EU market are for nutrients that very few European consumers lack in their diets; calls on the Commission to examine the potential for extending EFSA’s remit to include assessing the relevance of the use of such claims, in addition to examining the scientific basis for such claims;

Botanicals

8.Points out that the lack of harmonisation at EU level concerning the classification of botanical substances as either food or medicine means that a plant substance can be labelled as ‘food’ in one Member State and as ‘medicine’ in another; underlines that such inconsistencies pose challenges to manufacturers and regulators and have the potential to negatively affect the safety and well-being of consumers;

9.Points out the absence of an EU positive or negative list of botanical substances used in foods and food supplements, as well as the absence of a comprehensive list of beneficial or adverse health effects of botanicals, resulting in legislative disparities among the Member States, market fragmentation and potentially unsafe products reaching consumers;

10.Highlights the imperative need to address the ‘on-hold’ list of claims on botanicals; is concerned that the continued use of the ‘on-hold’ claims under the transitional measures of Article 27 of the NHCR could mislead consumers, who may falsely assume that the ‘on-hold’ claims have been scientifically assessed and risk managed; considers, furthermore, that the ‘on-hold’ list creates unfair competition for food business operators and discourages innovation as the uncertainty surrounding the situation deters long-term investments;

11.Considers it appropriate to explore the concept of ‘traditional use data’ in the efficacy assessment of health claims on plants used in food, taking into account the current regime for traditional herbal medicinal products; invites the Commission to assess whether the acceptance of traditional use evidence for the efficacy substantiation of health claims on botanicals would necessitate the creation of a separate category within the NHCR;

12.Underlines that regulatory changes regarding the substantiation of claims on botanicals would need to be accompanied by the harmonisation of the safety framework for botanicals; emphasises the key importance of safety in use and advocates for regular reviews to be performed if claims were to be authorised based on ‘traditional use data’; insists on mandatory product labelling indicating claims authorised based on ‘traditional use data’ and advising that a physician should be consulted to ensure safe use and to avoid interactions with existing treatments or medical conditions;

13.Urges the Member States to collaborate effectively in establishing a harmonised approach on botanical food supplements and calls on the Commission to provide guidance in this regard; recommends that the Commission and the Member States set up an EU-level monitoring system on the adverse health effects of botanical food supplements;

Enforcement

14.Calls on the Commission to provide updated guidance on how to deal with marketing practices that are used to circumvent the NHCR;

15.Calls for the Commission and the Member States to set up a knowledge network aimed at achieving harmonisation in the enforcement of the NHCR; points out that this network should facilitate the exchange of best practices, bridge interpretation gaps among Member States and address enforcement disparities;

Health claims in online communications

16.Highlights that the NHCR was adopted at a time when social media did not yet play such a large role in advertising and the sale of foods and food supplements; is concerned that the extent to which the NHCR effectively governs health-related online communications about foods remains unclear;

17.Stresses the need to ensure that the NHCR remains relevant in the online environment; considers it important, in this regard, to define what constitutes commercial communication on foods and food supplements on social media;

18.Invites the Commission to draft comprehensive guidelines for the enforcement of the NHCR online; considers that these guidelines should outline clear procedures and standards for monitoring and regulating health claims online, ensuring the accuracy and transparency of such claims and safeguarding the well-being of consumers;

19.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to create a platform to share best practices and encourage collaboration among the Member States’ competent authorities;

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20.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.