Nutrition claims and food composition

A new EU regulation on nutrition and health claims, which starts to come into force early in 2007, will have major consequences for food manufacturers and retailers and the way they label their products. For example, any nutrition claim (on what the product contains) or health claim (on what the product or one of its constituents does) will have to come from a positive list of permitted claims and be based on generally accepted scientific evidence. Throughout the year companies were kept appraised of the likely requirements of the legislation, through our Food Law Alert bulletin, presentations, the food law enquiry service and the major food labelling seminar in November.

Our food chemists have also been actively supporting companies in this area. The now established use of NMR for rapid fat determination complements established methods for saturated fats, trans fats and omega-3 and -6 fatty acids. The factsheet on 'Analytical Implications of the Current Salt Issue' promotes better understanding of how sodium and chloride analysis relates to on-pack declarations, and is a valued adjunct to our analytical service. And our dietary fibre analysis continues to be widely acknowledged as particularly reliable.

Glycaemic index (GI) status is another increasingly used claim on food products. GI is a measure of how quickly foods that contain carbohydrate raise blood glucose levels but it is difficult and expensive to determine. Two developments this year are benefiting companies wishing to make and substantiate GI claims. A laboratory test (the hydrolysis index or HI) has been developed to give indicative GI values for foods (as high, medium or low) - and is particularly useful as a screening test. For full GI testing, which is complex and can only be done in a clinical setting with human volunteers, CCFRA has established an alliance with Oxford Brookes University to offer this service to industry.