Abstract
“Negative claims” can be defined as claims indicating that certain ingredients, nutrients or substances are not present in a foodstuff. Legitimate uses of regulated negative claims in the EU include some nutrition claims and “gluten-free” claims. Some EU Member States have legislated on “GM-free” claims. The article describes in more detail some cases (i.e., BPA-free, MSG-free, Aspartame-free and palm oil-free), where negative claims are used with an implied message that whatever is used instead of the often “demonised” substance is safer, healthier or greener. The article argues that EU and EU Member States’ legislators and regulators should ensure that consumers are not misled by astute marketing techniques that have no informative agendas, but simply aim at denigrating certain products in order to promote “free-from” products. This issue is particularly timely and important given the imminent application of the EU's Food Information Regulation and the additional costs that it will impose on the industry in the name of providing complete, reliable and evidence-based information to consumers.
Highlights
What do bisphenol A, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, GMOs, palm oil and other substances or products have in common? Having caused some stirs within the public for alleged safety, environmental or nutritional reasons, they have all been the object of voluntary “negative claims”
The Codex General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA, Codex STAN 192-1995) sets out that MSG is a food additive that is included in Table 3, and as such may be used in a number of listed foods under the conditions of good manufacturing practices (GMP), as outlined in the Preamble of the Codex GSFA.59The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health Organisation (WHO), after review of the available scientific literature,[60] has evaluated MSG with an “Acceptable Daily Intake not specified”
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives requires that food additives be subject to a safety evaluations by the EFSA before they are permitted for use in the EU
Summary
What do bisphenol A, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, GMOs, palm oil and other substances or products have in common? Having caused some stirs within the public for alleged safety, environmental or nutritional reasons, they have all been the object of voluntary “negative claims”. EU Member States’ legislation and schemes on voluntary “negative claims” are discussed looking at the “GM-free” legislation and schemes in France and Germany. The article describes in detail some examples for potential abuses of negative claims (i.e., BPA-free, MSG-free, aspartame-free and palm oilfree). The different voluntary “negative claims” are assessed, in particular under EU rules on nutrition claims, administrative practices in some EU Member States and rules on misleading advertising. The article discusses whether legislative and/or regulatory processes should be triggered in order to adopt new rules at the EU level for purposes of preventing or effectively countering damaging “negative claims”. There is an ongoing trend in the EU to label foodstuffs as “free from”, which is understood by many consumers as implying that these products are a healthier choice. For a while everything was “light”, we have passed to the trend of the natural, the healthy and the “free-from”.2 The Guardian concludes that “by marketing products as 'free from' supermarkets are playing on people’s fears, which are based on the rumours circulated about these substances.”[3]
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