Nutritional claims

Many plant products are very rich in cell wall materials. Cereal brans, seed hulls, various pulps (including beet pulp), citrus peels, apple pomace... are typical exemples of such by-products (1,2). They can be used after simple treatments as dietary fibres, functional fibres or bulking agents, depending on the nutritional claims (2). They can be used also eis sources of some polysaccharides. 

Unless a specific nutritional claim is made the provision of nutritional information is voluntary. 

Nutritional Claims. The directive defines a nutritional claim... 

If vitamins are added to a product to make a nutritional claim, it is critical that shelf-life studies are undertaken to prove that the overages added are sufficient to ensure that the label claims can be met at the end of product shelf life. This is important as none of the vitamins are fully stable in a soft drink environment and some, for instance vitamin C, are very quickly lost in the presence of oxygen. The addition of the fat-soluble vitamins to a soft drink also offers a formulation challenge to ensure that they are fully dispersed and that there are no problems with neck ringing during storage. Trace metals, particularly the transition elements, can also have a deleterious effect on vitamin shelf life, and sometimes metal scavengers, such as EDTA or phosphate salts, are added to improve the shelf life. 

Within the European Union the provision of nutrition information is only obligatory if nutrition claims are being made or implied for the product and, whether obligatory or not, if information is provided it must be derived in the prescribed manner. In the UK the requirements are set out in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (SI 1996 1499). 

This description covers all kind of fresh cheese products with ingredients such as (fruit) preparations, flavourings, spices and herbs. Using stabilisers, fresh cheese products, can also be pasteurised. Country specific regulations determine the nutritional claims. 

Health and nutritional claims are used by the industry to add value to their products, informing the consumers the advantages of consuming them, thus influencing the consumer s choice for a specific food product. Thus, the indication of health or nutritional benefits in food labels implies that the product respects a defined number of conditions. ... 

Nutrition claims are claims that state, suggest, or imply that a food has particular beneficial nutritional properties due to the energy it provides or the nutrients it contains [61]. Annex Table 80.4 compiles these claims. 

In fact, a first discussion should contemplate the adequateness of the use of the term antioxidants as a nutrition claim. There are main differences between UE and US legislations. 

In contraposition, the term antioxidants as a nutrition claim has not been included in the corresponding Annex for Nutrition Claims of the UE 1924/2006 Regulation or its amendments. In consequence, for submitting an antioxidant claim, it should be submitted as a health claim, and thus, the significance of the effect for human health has to be considered. And, in this case, the terminology used is of importance. 

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