Nutrient profiling scheme offers hope of exemptions for fatty but nutrient-rich foods

Manufacturers of high fat/sugar but nutrient-dense foods have scored a victory in their bid to have such products excluded from the nutrient profiling system in the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation.

Under the Regulation, only foods that bear a positive nutrient profile will be allowed to make health claims.

While the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) rejected calls for a system that compared products on a category by category basis in favour of a single scheme, it did agree that certain foods should be excluded. "We believe that a nutrient profiling scheme could be applied across all foods with a limited number of exemptions for food groups that play an important role in the diet.

"These could include: vegetable oils; spreadable fats; dairy products; cereals and cereal products; fruits and vegetables and fruit/vegetable products; meat and meat products; fish and fish products; and non-alcoholic beverages."

However, EFSA made no reference to whether dietary supplements should gain a similar exemption, said Patrick Coppens, secretary general at the European Responsible Nutrition Alliance. "Surely it would be quite ridiculous to impose nutrient profiles on supplements? But it would be nice to hear them actually confirm this."

EFSA also failed to clarify whether it thought the scheme should compare foods per 100g or by portion, said Coppens. "The brave thing to do would be to go by portion, but defining portion sizes across 27 Member States could be a nightmare to do in practice."

The profiling system must be established by January 2009.