Participants from the food and nutrition industry, academics and regulators attended a seminar on health claims regulations for functional food in Asia this month, organised by international food and nutrition regulatory consultancy EAS.

The seminar, which took place on 5 June in Singapore, covered the regulatory frameworks across the region for functional food; the types of health claims permitted in selected Asian markets and the requirements for making different types of health claims.

Daniel Tsi (EAS Asia Regional Director) and Wai Mun Poon (EAS Asia Regional Regulatory Affairs Manager) presented an overview of the international developments on health claims at Codex Alimentarius level and offered useful advice on a strategic approach for companies planning to make health claims on their products in Asia.

“In general, the industry is concerned about the regulatory approval process for ingredients and innovative products,” said Dr Tsi. “We are still a long way from regulatory harmonisation of these areas across SE Asia and Asia as a whole. Therefore, it is important to know the regulatory boundaries.”

At the seminar, EAS Europe Regulatory Adviser Pieter Lagae also gave an update on the status quo of nutrition and health claims in Europe, offering insight into the challenges faced by many companies in the claims evaluation process.

He said: “Although there is agreement that the claims regulation will drastically alter the marketing of nutritional products in Europe, many companies are still unsure of the appropriate route forward, as a number of aspects of the claims regulation are still either being developed or yet to be clarified for the sector.”

To help companies navigate these regulatory mazes EAS has released two unique and easy-to-follow guides to help companies build successful regulatory strategies to enter the Asian and European nutritional product markets.

The guides, developed by experts at the EAS Europe and Asia offices cover national and regional rules for health supplements, fortified and functional foods. These include rules for adding vitamins and minerals to food and health supplements; for the use of herbs and other functional ingredients; and analyses of the current labelling, claims and novel food regulatory environments in Europe and Asia

To view a sample of the EAS guide ‘Marketing Health Supplements, Fortified & Functional Foods in Asia: Legislation & Practice’ or to buy the guide online visit www.eas.asia. For more information on the EAS guide ‘Marketing Food Supplements, Fortified and Functional Foods in Europe: Legislation and Practice’ visit the publications page of www.eas.eu

1. EAS provides strategic consulting advice on European, Asian and international regulation on food and nutritional products. It provides companies with regulatory and strategic advice for the marketing and approval of their products in Europe and Asia.
2. EAS also advises governments, trade associations and companies on the impact of European, Asian and global policy.
3. EAS has offices in Brussels, Italy and Singapore.
4. EAS Italy is a branch of EAS Europe located in northern Italy to follow EFSA developments in Parma closely.
5. For more information on EAS Europe contact EAS, 50 Rue de l’Association, 1000 Brussels, tel: (+32) (0) 2 218 14 70, email info@eas.eu or visit www.eas.eu
6. For information on EAS Asia contact EAS Strategic Advice Pte Ltd, 3 Killiney Road, 07-04 Winsland House I, Singapore 239519, tel: (+65) 68 38 12 70, email: info@eas.asia or visit www.eas.asia