Health benefit claims on food labels face EU assessment

THE health benefits of hundreds of Irish food products are to be thoroughly examined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as part of an international set of standards for food labelling.

A total of 314 health claims were submitted by the Food Safety Authority (FSA) of Ireland for inclusion on an approved list of health claims for the European Community.

Over the next two years, those submissions as well as the thousands submitted from the other EU countries will be assessed by the EFSA before it compiles a statutory list of approved claims, which must be adhered to in the labelling of all food and food supplements.