A health claim is any claim, written or visual, which states or implies that a relationship exists between a food category, a food or one of its constituents and health. This includes claims made about weight loss or weight management.

Is there a relevant authorised health claim?

Under Section 15 of the CAP Code, there is a distinction to be made between a general health claim and a ‘specific’ health claim. General health claims will be broad and vague, like “good for you”, “healthy” or “superfood”. More recently, the ASA ruled that “guilt free sugar substitute” could be understood as referring to a general health benefit. The Department of Health’s (DoH) guidance on Nutrition and Health Claims gives further examples. A general health claim must be accompanied by a specific authorised health claim listed on the EU Register of nutrition and health claims (rules 15.1 and 15.2). The health claim might not need to be identically worded to the listed authorised claim, but it must have the same meaning; it shouldn’t be exaggerated; and, it should bear some relevance to the general health claim. The broader the general health claim, the greater the likelihood that more health claims from the list of authorised claims could be eligible to accompany it. See Food: Health claims and the DoH’s guidance on the flexibility of wording for health claims.

“Our healthy product X contains protein which contributes to a growth in muscle mass” is an example of a likely acceptable claim, which links the general health claim; “healthy” to the nutrient; “protein” to the listed authorised claim; “contributes to a growth in muscle mass” Authorised claims are obviously only acceptable if they satisfy the “conditions of use of the claim” referred to on the Register.

Nutrition claims

Nutrition claims such as “fat-free” are only permitted if they are listed on, and comply with the Annex of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. Ads must conform with the conditions set out in that Annex (NAH Foods Ltd, 31 July 2013).

Exemption for trademarks, brand names or fancy name

Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods provides that “a trade mark, brand name or fancy name appearing in the labelling, presentation or advertising of a food which may be construed as a nutrition or health claim may be used without undergoing the authorisation procedures provided for in this Regulation, provided that it is accompanied by a related nutrition or health claim in that labelling, presentation or advertising which complies with the provisions of this Regulation”

Exemption for trademarks registered or established before 1 January 2005

Article 28 (2) provides that “products bearing trademarks or brand names existing before 1 January 2005 which do not comply with this Regulation may continue to be marketed until 19 January 2022 after which time the provisions of this Regulation shall apply” (Vitabiotics Ltd, 26 March 2014).
You are strongly advised to seek legal advice if you think these exemptions might apply to your claims.

Botanicals

Claims for botanical substances that are listed as ‘on hold’ and being considered by EFSA might be acceptable provided that the proposed claim has the same meaning as the ‘on hold’ listed claim, and it is used in compliance with applicable existing national provisions – in this case, section 3 of CAP Code. You should therefore have access to the evidence which supports that claim, but take into account that EFSA has published some negative scientific opinions on specific ‘on hold’ claims. And, if a related non-authorised claim exists on the Register, the ‘on hold’ claim should not be used.

The ASA has yet to see good evidence to prove claims for botanicals: in Pharma Nord (UK), Pharma Medico Ltd and New Nordic Ltd the evidence wasn’t good enough to prove the claims. In A Nelson & Co Ltd there were no ‘on hold’ claims for the relevant ingredients contained in the product.

Weight-loss programmes

You don’t need to be exclusively advertising a food product for the Food rules to apply, as illustrated in the rulings on Forever Living Products (UK) Ltd and Jane Plan Ltd. The application of the Food rules for an ad promoting a weight-loss programme which includes other elements as well as food, will depend on whether claims are linked totally or partly to the food element, the context in which the claim appears and how it is presented. You can read more about this in the DoH’s guidance.


More on


  • Keep up to date

    Sign up to our rulings, newsletters and emargoed access for Press. Subscribe now.