Background Paper
HEALTH CLAIMS
September, 2001
Health claims are statements on food packaging that the food product
can provide some additional health benefit other than assisting
the consumer to meet daily nutritional requirements. The International
Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations (ICGMA) members support
the elaboration of health claims guidelines in Codex Alimentarius.
We believe that health claims are appropriate, valid and useful
when a scientific basis exists to make a claim.
We believe that when the guidelines are elaborated, health claims
should be permitted in all Codex member countries. National health
policies should not prohibit health claims that are consistent with
Codex guidelines.
The level of proof through scientific substantiation should be
reasonable and should not be unnecessarily burdensome. Claims should
be permitted on generally accepted scientific data.
The guidelines should not be overly restrictive, so that only a
very few, if any, health claims are allowed.
The International Council of Grocery Manufacturers Associations
is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) officially
recognized by the Codex Alimentarius. ICGMA represents the interests
of national and regional associations representing all sectors of
the grocery industry and serves to facilitate harmonization of standards
and policies concerned with health, safety, packaging, labeling,
advertising and marketing of foods, beverages and other grocery
products.
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