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Vitamins_and_minerals___Food_Labelling_Services_1476091201

BEUC: ‘EU food supplements market is only partially regulated’

The European consumer organisation BEUC called for better regulations and policing of those regulations across the EU’s 28 member states for products as varied as food supplements, foods for sports persons, traditional herbal medicines or medical devices.”

It said the market would suffer varying safety standards and product classification strategies” that would create “confusion and unacceptable inequalities” unless:

  • adulteration with medicines and unauthorised substances was addressed.
  • maximum and minimum limits for vitamins and minerals were established.
  • products bore better safety and usage information.
  • an effective reporting system for adverse events was established.
  • claims only permitted if backed by robust science – including botanicals.

“Consumers’ safety can be at risk due to flaws in the EU and national legislations,” BEUC wrote. “They are exposed to potentially serious side effects, misleading information and to the risk of wasting money for products that do not live up to the promises they make.”

 

You can read the full article HERE

 

Food Labelling Services comments:

New legislation introduced in 2016 replaced the rules on PARNUTS foods with a new Regulation on Foods for Specific Groups. The new regulation covers food for infants and young children (infant formula, follow-on formula and weaning foods), food for specific medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control. Under the new approach, food for other population groups will be regulated as regular foodstuffs under general food law - ie the Food Information for Consumers regulation 1169/2011 and the Union rules on nutrition and health claims under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. 

Any supplement should be safe for consumption, and if this requires tighter specific regulation, then this should be embraced.