‘
Nutrition & Health Claims
‘. European Commission continues to omitadoption of nutrient profiles, necessary to prevent health claims about junk food. Instead, it authorizes traditional generic descriptions that variously call out beneficial effects on certain foods. Brussels green light for ‘tonic’ water with added sugar, cough drops and health cookies.
‘Nutrition & Health Claims‘ rules and exemptions
The NHC (‘Nutrition & Health Claims‘) regulation defines the conditions and criteria for claiming nutrition and health-related claims in food-related marketing information (on labels and advertisements, including on the web and social media). (1) In essence, beyond the general conditions and supplementary mandatory information, the permitted nutrition claims are only those listed in Annex of the 1924/06 as amended, while those related to health must be specifically authorized.
The rules apply
also to trademarks used to mark individual references or lines of food products and their ingredients. Where such marks refer to or even suggest nutritional or health properties of foods, they must therefore bear a
health claim
(or at least a
nutrition claim
) that complies with the NHC regulation.
An exception to the above rules may be granted in favor of ‘generic descriptors (names) traditionally used to indicate the peculiarity of a category of food or beverage that could have an effect on human health.’ (2) Interested operators may submit a request to that effect to the competent national authority of a member state, which shall forward it to Brussels without delay. And the Commission, when the conditions are met, adopts a regulation where it authorizes the retention of customary names of individual products. (3) Which, while suggesting possible health benefits, may be referred to foods without virtue under the NHC regulation.
Generic descriptors, derogations granted by Brussels
The European Commission recently authorized the use of some generic descriptors traditionally used in some member states, following applications from interested operators. (4) Authorized traditional designations include:
– a carbonated sugary drink, non-alcoholic, with quinine aroma, bearing the word ‘tonic’ in the descriptive name. In this case alone, although the question comes from the ‘British
Soft Industry Association
‘ and the Brexit is at the doorstep, authorization is extended to the whole of Europe. With the additional paradox of the double sugar ration, here in our country, compared to the recipe from across the Channel. ‘Diabetic’ water therefore, rather than ‘tonic’ (sic!),
– sugar-based candies and confectionery products that invoke beneficial properties against coughs and sore throats (‘Hustenperle‘, ‘Halsbonbon‘, ‘Halspastill‘, ‘cough drops‘, ‘Rebuçados para a tosse‘), used and licensed in various countries (Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom),
– a baked product
made and known in Italy as a ‘health cookie‘
.
The authorization to continue the use of the above generic descriptors is motivated by the fact that the relevant products are identified by consumers with those names according to ancient tradition, without intending any plausible health effect of them. Therefore, the exemption in the NHC regulation is fully applicable.
The Monviso ‘health cookie’
The Ministry of Health had forwarded to the European Commission, on 4/23/15, the application submitted by Monviso Spa for authorization of the indication ‘health cookie’ on a bakery product classifiable as rusks, whose flavor resembles cookies. And after ‘only’ 4 years, in the biblical timeframe of Brussels, the application was finally granted.
The ‘health cookie’ belongs to the Piedmont and Ligurian tradition since the 16th century. The long shelf life of the product, guaranteed by the roasting process, made the fortune of sailors who could thus stow it without risk of alteration. And it is well known how the term ‘health,’ now associated with the ‘lightness’ of foods, was once linked to their nutritional effectiveness. And thus to the richness of the ingredients, indeed remarkable in a product made from flour, eggs, butter and sugar. The ancient Piedmontese recipe is among other things listed as a Traditional Food Products (PAT).
Dario Dongo and Marina De Nobili
Notes
(1) V. reg. EC 1924/06, reg. EU 432/12 as amended. Specific administrative penalties are established in Italy by the d.lgs. 27/17. See the articles
https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/archivio-notizie/health-claims-sanzioni-all-acqua-di-rose-nello-schema-di-decreto
,
https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/approfondimenti_1/nutrition-health-claims-dario-dongo-illustra-il-decreto-sanzioni_1
,
https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/nutrition-health-claims-sanzioni-in-italia-in-vigore-dall-1-aprile-2017
. For further study, reference is made to the free ebook ‘1169 penis. Reg. EU 1169/11, food news, controls and penalties’, at https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/libri/1169-pene-e-book-gratuito-su-delitti-e-sanzioni-nel-food
(2) See reg. EC 1924/06, Article 1.4
(3) Pursuant to reg. EU 907/2013, ‘laying down rules on applications concerning the use of generic descriptors (names)‘
(4) reg. EU 2019/343
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law in Trento, she follows a master's degree in food law at Roma Tre. She is passionate about food and wine, she is between culture and tradition.
