Health claims, the EFSA and Sunday Times.

I rarely read the mainstream Sunday papers as I find that they are a little too rich in fluff for my liking. However I did flick through the Sunday Times yesterday and came across a story that suggested that health claims made about food were being rejected by the European Food Standards Agency ( EFSA). The piece was written using the sort of language that one might associate with a tabloid rather than a broadsheet – words like ‘bamboozled’, ‘exposed’ and ‘purport’ were used which implies that the manufacturers are trying to pull a fast one on a trusting and innocent consumer and the EFSA are protecting us like See the article here – http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6719095.ece.

Health claims of all descriptions are tightly governed and monitored. Shane Starling of nutraingredients.com has written an excellent piece on their website – I can’t improve on what he has to say so read it here – http://www.nutraingredients.com/Publications/Food-Beverage-Nutrition/NutraIngredients-USA.com/Regulation/Mainstream-press-exposed-for-health-claim-sensationalism/?c=7xZQSb2wZiMEJYOmPx5lzw%3D%3D&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily

As a consumer and food manufacturer I am entirely confident that the FSA in this country and EFSA reject claims that are spurious, but rightly accept claims that aren’t and so I trust them to get it right, without the sensational headlines that Sunday newspapers thrive on.