Eurocare welcomes the publication of the European Commission’s proposal on nutrition and health claims made on foods (16 July 2003) and the inclusion of Article 4, paragraph 3.
Eurocare also welcomes the inclusion of article 3, paragraph 15 in the explanatory memorandum which stipulates that alcohol is one of the key health determinants in the European Community and that high consumption of alcohol in the population substantially increases the risk of alcohol-related morbidity and of all-cause mortality.
In developed countries, alcohol is responsible for 9.2 per cent of the disease burden. Whilst it is less than the disease burden caused by tobacco (12.2%), it is more than that caused by overweight (7.4%) and illicit drugs (1.8%).
Beside the direct effects of intoxication and addiction, worldwide alcohol is estimated to cause 20-30% of cancer of the esophagus, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, homicide and motor vehicle accidents.
At present, there are still some claims that are misleading, ambiguous, unclear and/or ill founded. For instance, consumers may be still be persuaded to believe that moderate alcohol intake wards off certain cardiovascular (circulatory system) conditions, most notably heart attacks, whilst this fact is only relevant for a small proportion of the population and does not apply to the majority of consumers; indeed for many consumers of alcohol, their consumption level actually increases the risk of coronary heart disease.
Eurocare also welcomes the concerns expressed in the regulation regarding the ways in which some products are designed and promoted to appeal to children and adolescents as stated in the Council Recommendation of 5 June 2001 on the drinking of alcohol by children and young people.
Therefore, rules on health and nutritional claims should apply to package labeling, advertising, product information sheets, recipe brochures and all other material used in marketing.
"There is no evidence that alcohol is necessary for good health", said Derek Rutherford, Eurocare Secretary "It is absurd to treat alcohol as a health food. Whatever may be said about the protective health on the heart, it applies to a minority of individuals whilst the risk applies to all consumers. There is no scientific justification to encourage the overall consumption of alcohol in the population. The only appropriate message from the point of health is less is better."
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy of the European Parliament will discuss this proposal on the 26-27 January 2004.
Please find attached Eurocare’s press release on their response to the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on nutrition and health claims made on foods released on the 16.7.2003 - COM(2003) 424 final - 2003/0165 (COD) (presented by the Commission).
Please go to EPHA Response to EC’s Proposal on ’Nutrition & Health Claims Made on Foods’ for more information on this issue.
