International

Today the European Parliament voted on a new measure to regulate health claims on foodstuffs. Two of the most important sections of the proposal were thrown out, however. SP Euro-MP Kartika Liotard said that “What's left is an empty shell, and not something for which we feel we can vote.”

The demand that a health claim should be based on some established scientific truth, contained in Article 4 of the Regulation, was rejected by the Parliament. Ms Liotard pointed out that “This means that it remains possible for a lollipop to be called 'healthy' because it contains 0% fat. There's never any fat in lollies – it's the proportion of sugar – 80% - that's the problem. But Daphne Dekkers can carry on peddling Chupa-Chups to our children by means of a health claim which rests on absolutely nothing.”

In addition, the Parliament threw out the licensing procedure proposed in the original text. This would have required health claims to be examined to see if they were true, a test which the Parliament found unnecessary. All that was left intact was a vaguely defined obligation to report the content of such claims. Ms Liotard: “This is putting the cart before the horse. The industry will now be allowed, for example, to state on a foodstuff that a substance that it contains lowers cholesterol without offering the slightest proof. I can already see Daphne Dekkers coming out with something like ‘Eat more McLinos, the hamburger that's good for the heart.”

The SP delegation presented amendments calling for both of these crucial elements to be preserved, but these were unable to win a majority.