“It is important for food manufacturers not to represent their products differently to how they are. Be honest about their composition and do not mislead the consumer with nutritional and health claims”, says Elif Stepman of Foodwatch.

“It is important for food manufacturers not to represent their products differently to how they are. Be honest about their composition and do not mislead the consumer with nutritional and health claims”, says Elif Stepman of Foodwatch.

In the Netherlands and Germany (although not yet in Belgium), each year, Foodwatch annually awards the Golden Wind Egg to the food manufacturer marketing the most misleading product of the year. “The nominees often adapt their product as a result of their nomination”, relates Elif Stepman, campaign leader at this critical food watchdog. “The question is often one of where marketing ends and where deception begins”, she says. “Article 8 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law prohibits deception, but what constitutes deception is not always clear from the regulation.”

Stepman also adds that the regulation permits national governments some scope to determine some aspects of it, such as the naming which relates to the product’s recipe. “The principle is that the ‘consumer’s expectations’ will be taken into account in doing so, but the question is the extent to which that consumer is involved in the legal descriptions and recipe.”

Health and nutritional claims

The European Commission has been working on clear regulations on health and nutritional claims for decades, but has still not reached its objectives. Stepman does however see improvements. “Unhealthy energy drinks containing caffeine may no longer be promoted with claims that they promote concentration and alertness.” On the other hand, she says that the consumer can still find countless products in the supermarket which contain too much sugar, fat and salt and yet are still presented with a healthy image. “An example of this are unhealthy snacks that boast protein claims or sickly sweet fruit drinks which do in fact fulfil your ‘daily vitamin requirement’.” Manufacturers themselves may, in principle, determine whether they place nutritional and health claims on product packaging. Regulation (EU) No. 1924/2006, also referred to as ‘the Claims Regulation’, regulates this.

Claims may only be used if they comply with the standards incorporated in this regulation. This is determined by the European Commission on the advice of the EFSA. Nutritional claims say something positive about the composition of a product, such as ‘source of fibre’.

Health claims can be divided into generic (general) claims, reduction of health risk claims (reduction of a disease risk factor) and child claims (focused on the health of children). Health claims must be accompanied by text that emphasises a healthy lifestyle and the quantity that must be consumed to achieve the desired effect.

“Transparency and clear information are very important for ingredients suppliers and food manufacturers”, emphasises Stepman. “The responsibility for the claims lies ultimately with the food manufacturers.”