Prevalence of Nutrition and Health-Related Claims on Pre-Packaged Foods: A Five-Country Study in Europe.

Sophie Hieke,Krista Miklavec,Kerry Brown,Katja Pfeifer,Igor Pravst,Nera Kuljanic,Azucena Gracia,Asha Kaur,Bernadette Egan,Mike Rayner

doi:10.3390/nu8030137

Abstract

This study is part of the research undertaken in the EU funded project CLYMBOL (“Role of health-related CLaims and sYMBOLs in consumer behaviour”). The first phase of this project consisted of mapping the prevalence of symbolic and non-symbolic nutrition and health-related claims (NHC) on foods and non-alcoholic beverages in five European countries. Pre-packaged foods and drinks were sampled based on a standardized sampling protocol, using store lists or a store floor plan. Data collection took place across five countries, in three types of stores. A total of 2034 foods and drinks were sampled and packaging information was analyzed. At least one claim was identified for 26% (95% CI (24.0%–27.9%)) of all foods and drinks sampled. Six percent of these claims were symbolic. The majority of the claims were nutrition claims (64%), followed by health claims (29%) and health-related ingredient claims (6%). The most common health claims were nutrient and other function claims (47% of all claims), followed by disease risk reduction claims (5%). Eight percent of the health claims were children’s development and health claims but these were only observed on less than 1% (0.4%–1.1%) of the foods. The category of foods for specific dietary use had the highest proportion of NHC (70% of foods carried a claim). The prevalence of symbolic and non-symbolic NHC varies across European countries and between different food categories. This study provides baseline data for policy makers and the food industry to monitor and evaluate the use of claims on food packaging.

Highlights

The present study describes a novel approach on how to sample a select number of foods across various countries, using the food categorization scheme [23] that has been adopted by the Global Food Monitoring Group for future monitoring of the food supply [24]
EU Member States differ in their history of use of health claims and symbols prior to the EU regulation, food operators in different countries may employ different marketing strategies for their products, and the use of health symbols is often linked to national organizations issuing those symbols
The prevalence of symbolic and non-symbolic nutrition and health-related claims (NHC) varies across European countries and between different food group categories

Summary

Introduction

The use of nutrition and health-related claims (NHC) on foods and non-alcoholic beverages ( foods and drinks or just foods) is regulated in many developed countries. The Regulation applies to all nutrition and health claims made on food packaging. Nutrients 2016, 8, 137 should not be misleading and should be substantiated by generally accepted scientific data [1,2]. Since the EU Register of health claims made on food entered into force in December 2012 [3], food producers in the EU are allowed to use only authorized health claims and related general non-specific health claims. One exception is claims that are still in the process of scientific evaluation, e.g., botanicals [4]

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