Polyphenols and Functional Foods from the Regulatory Viewpoint

The aim of the present article is to give a bird’s eye view about polyphenols in the European Legislation and its applications according to the European Food Safety Authority, in particular with reference to labelling for the consumer protection in the European market. Polyphenols are given much attention by consumers due to their health effects, and exploited by food producers. Consequently, a study on cases relating to claims about polyphenols cannot leave out of consideration a panoramic about the legal framework regarding European Regulations on nutrition claims. In this ambit, the general framework is the (EC) Regulation No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods: it sets the basic legal rules about nutrition claims in the European Union. Because of the possible allowed use of health claims about polyphenols, many applications have been made by food business operators. At present, the use of health claims related to polyphenols in the European market is limited only to olive oil polyphenols. All other formulations so far proposed relating to other foods have been rejected by the European Authority, being judged lacking of substantial scientific evidence.