Health claims according to Article 13 of the EC Regulation:: suggested priorities with reference to the Swedish Code on health claims and emphasis on relevance

Based on principles specified in the Swedish Code on health claims and experiences from handling of claims within the Code, priorities that may be useful when establishing a positive list of generic health claims and for responsible use of claims are suggested. One key factor highlighted is that claims should be relevant and meaningful for the consumer. To be useful in choosing a healthy diet, claims should primarily aim to stimulate an intake in agreement with official nutrition recommendations. Claims may thus be considered as relevant primarily for nutrients of which a considerable part of the population has an intake deviating from the recommendations. For vitamins and minerals, commonly involved in many functions in the body, it would be useful to prioritize claims referring to effects considered more important than others. Functions true for all essential nutrients, and/or affected by a large number of dietary factors, would be less relevant to claim for single vitamins and minerals. The relative importance of a specific vitamin or mineral, in relation to other nutrients potentially exerting similar effects, should also be considered. Based on these priorities, and on claims permitted or suggested as examples in the Code, a list of generic claims on vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, energy and wholegrain is suggested. Additional issues considered within the Code are also discussed.