Nutrition claims for fats

In recent years a great deal has changed in the field of nutrition and health claims. The current claims legislation which tightened the regulations concerning claims was introduced in July 2007. This factsheet gives an overview of the new regulations concerning both nutrition and health claims and how these apply to fats.

Nutrition claims are claims about energy, nutrients or other substances that a foodproduct does or specifically does not contain, such as: ‘rich in unsaturated fatty acids’ and ‘low saturated fat’. It is laid down in the claims legislation that only those nutrition claims that are included in the annex to this legislation are permitted. For instance, the claim 'low fat' may be used if the product contains no more than 3 grams fat per 100 g or 1.5 g fat per 100 ml. As from January 2010 nutrition claims that are not included in the annex to the claims legislation text may no longer be used. A summary of the permitted nutrition claims for fats is given in Table 1.

Table 1Old and new regulations for nutrition claims about fats

Nutrition claim	Current regulations
Low energy	<40 kcal/100 g or 20 kcal/100 ml
Low fat	≤3 g/100 g or 1.5 g/100 ml
Fat-free	Total fat <0.5 g/100 g or 0.5 g/100ml ("X % fat-free” is forbidden)
Increased PUFA/ MUFA/ UFA/ Omega-3/ Omega-6	PUFA/MUFA/ UFA/ omega-3/ omega-6 ≥ 30% higher than is usual for such products
Low saturated fat	Sum of SAFA and TFA ≤ 1.5 g/100 g or 0.75 g/100 ml and Sum of SAFA and TFA supplies no more than 10 en%
Saturated fat free	Sum of SF and TF< 0.1 g/100 g or 0.1 g/100 ml
Reduced energy / fat / saturated fat / trans fat etc.	≥30% less energy / fat / etc. than is usual in such products
‘Light’	May be used when the content is at least 30% lower than that in a comparable product
Source of omega-3 fatty acids	≥0.3 g ALA or 40 mg EPA and DHA per 100g and per 100 kcal
High omega-3 fatty acids	≥0.6 g ALA or 80 mg EPA and DHA per 100 g and per 100 kcal
High in MUFA	≥45% of the fatty acids present must come from MUFA and the MUFA must supply ≥20% of the energy
High in PUFA	≥45% of the fatty acids present must come from PUFA and the PUFA must supply ≥20% of the energy
High in UFA	≥70% of the fatty acids present must come from UFA and the UFA must supply ≥20% of the energy

* for drinks, soups and liquid milk products on basis of dry solids
PUFA = polyunsaturated fat, MUFA monounsaturated fat, UFA = unsaturated fat, SAFA = saturated fat, TFA = trans fat, en% = energy%

The nutrition claim “contains (name of the nutrient)” such as, for example “contains omega-6 fatty acids” may only be used when a nutrient or other substance is present in the foodproduct other than those for which there are specific conditions laid down in the annex to the claims legislation. The product must then also comply with all the applicable provisions stated in the claims legislation. This means that such a substance must have a scientifically proven beneficial, nutritional or physiological effect and there must be sufficient of the substance present in the product such that the claimed effect can be achieved.

As far as comparative claims are concerned (e.g. 'reduced saturated fat') article 9 of the claims legislation stipulates that it is only permitted to make comparisons with foodproducts in the same category. The manufacturer must show clearly on the packaging what is being compared with and what the claimed difference is.

It is highly probable that the annex will be further modified in the coming years. For instance the reformulation claim ‘now contains x% less energy / fat / saturated fatty acids / salt / sugar' is still under discussion. Should this claim officially be included in the annex to the claims legislation then it will only be permitted to be used for reformulated products and then only for a limited period.