Functional food and drink companies will pull the plug on research and development (R&D) if proposals for nutritional profiling are adopted by the European Union (EU), a leading manufacturer has warned.
Gavin Neath, chairman of Unilever UK, which makes the cholesterol-lowering spread Flora ProActiv, said there would be little point in manufacturers investing huge sums of money in clinical trials if they were barred from making health claims for products.
Under proposals being prepared by working groups within the European Commission, products which fail to meet a range of healthy criteria could not claim to have specific health benefits.
"We would be extremely worried if the legislation was formed in that way," said Neath. "If a manufacturer has clinical or technical data to substantiate a claim, then that manufacturer should be allowed to make that claim."
He warned: "If the legislation doesn't allow that, the consequences for R&D in the food industry in Europe would be pretty dire. Why would you invest money in this area if the regulations forbade you from making any claim?"
Although a final report was expected to be ready by May or June, problems in reaching agreement on its content means that it is now unlikely to be ready for the European Parliament to debate until 2006. Plans to introduce similar legislation last year were delayed following an outcry from the food industry and others.
Neath said that provided consumers were offered clear and simple information on which to base a choice, "underpinned by sound, robust science", health claims should be possible, with the rules applied similarly in all member states.
"From a multinational's perspective you want a uniform approach to this, whatever emerges," he said. "Selling into different EU countries you don't want different schemes in different places."
Neath expected the growth in functional or so-called "wellness" foods to be driven by larger companies that have the financial resources to back up any health claims they make.
"The larger players have some structural advantages if you are required to carry out clinical trials, for example, to substantiate a health claim," said Neath. "That is something that is tough for a small player to do."