The European Parliament finally rejected in plenary a draft resolution tabled by its Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calling for the rejection of the Commission’s draft regulation on the authorisation and refusal of authorisation of certain health claims made on foods and referring to children’s development and health. The resolution did not in fact obtain the required qualified majority (388 votes) in the plenary vote. There were 328 votes against it, with 26 abstentions.

To recall, members of the parliamentary committee opposed the adoption of the draft regulation considering it to be incompatible with the aim and content of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 . This draft regulation provided in particular for the addition of a list of nutritional claims authorised by the European Union, a claim according to which docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake contributes to the normal visual development of infants up to 12 months of age.

For members of the committee, such a claim could be misleading because, even if scientific evidence shows that DHA in breast milk contributes to the visual development of infants, synthesised DHA added to formula milks and other foods intended for infants is, however, in a different biological environment to breast milk.

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 requires that all new nutritional claims must be submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for its opinion. However, EFSA was not able to reach the conclusion that there is a cause and effect relationship between the intake of infant and follow-on formula supplemented with DHA and visual function which was the reason why members of the committee considered that more research was required into the possible effects, both beneficial and harmful, of DHA supplementation before the use of DHA in follow-on formulae and foods for infants can be claimed as beneficial. As a result, they called on Parliament to reject the draft regulation.

This draft Commission Regulation concerns the authorisation and refusal of authorisation of certain health claims made on foods and referring to children's development and health.

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 health claims made on foods are prohibited unless they are authorised by the Commission in accordance with that Regulation and included in a list of permitted claims.

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 also provides that applications for authorisations of health claims may be submitted by food business operators to the national competent authority of a Member State. The national competent authority is to forward valid applications to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The Authority is to inform without delay the other Member States and the Commission of the application, and to deliver an opinion on a health claim concerned.

The eight opinions referred to in this Regulation are related to applications for health claims referring to the effects of essential fatty acids on children’s development and health, as referred to in Article 14(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. The draft Regulation intends to include the health claims listed in Annex I (permitted health claims) to this Regulation may be made on foods on the European Union market in compliance with the conditions laid down in that Annex. The following health claims should be included in the Union list of permitted claims referred Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006:

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake contributes to the normal visual development of infants up to 12 months of age; Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) maternal intake contributes to the normal development of the eye of the foetus and breastfed infants; Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) maternal intake contributes to the normal brain development of the foetus and breastfed infants.

The Commission proposes that the following health claims be rejected :

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) contribute to the optimal brain development of infants and young children; Lipil® contributes to optimal brain development of infants and young children; Enfamil® Premium contributes to optimal brain development of infants and young children.