UK blocks breast-similar claims on infant formulas
By Jess Halliday 
13/03/2007 - A crackdown by the Food Standards Agency will bar infant
formula makers from making claims on products sold in the UK that draw on
their similarity to breast milk, to avoid misleading mothers.

The FSA is moving to enforce a 1997 update to the 1995 Infant Formula and
Follow-on Formula Regulations. However it seems that there has been
confusion over what claims are permitted under the annex, as according to a
spokesperson for the FSA, an EU clarification was issued last year. 

The spokesperson stressed that no new law has come into play, but that the
government agency and enforcement bodies are making sure that information on
labels is compliant with EU legislation.

Nonetheless, the enforcement will come as a blow to infant formula makers
who have been striving to replicate as closely as possible the nutritional
content of natural breast milk so that babies who cannot be breast fed - for
whatever reason - are not at a nutritional disadvantage.

The strategy has included the addition of omega-3 fatty acids, probiotic
bacteria and, in some recent cases, probiotic fibres. 

While these nutrients do occur in breast milk, Les Bailey, policy expert at
LACORS told UK mainstream press that breast milk also contains beneficial
antibodies that are not found in infant formula. 

Claims currently being made on products and marketing materials, which will
have to be removed, include: "Now even closer to breast milk" and "Helps to
support immunity" on packs of SMA Gold; "Closer than ever to breast milk" on
Cow & Gate and Farley's products; and "Supports your baby's immune system"
and "The closest to breast milk" on Aptamil First. 

The rules apply to products intended for use during the first four to six
months of a baby's life. The aim, Bailey is quoted as saying, is to ensure
that new mothers are not unduly influenced when deciding their feeding
practices. 

"The legislation is framed in such a way that it doesn't matter whether they
are correct or not. It is designed to promote breastfeeding." 

The FSA spokesperson said that the government is not aiming to push breast
feeding as the best course of action. "Obviously it is what is right for the
parents or individuals," she said. 

The crackdown also comes in the context of new European legislation on
health and nutrition claims on food products aimed at broader categories of
consumers, which will come into force this year. 

The legislation is intended to create a level playing field for products
making health claims across the bloc, and to ensure that any claims that are
approved have the full weight of science to back them up.

http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=74928&m=1NIE313&c=ymhgzhkpfeeb
tvm
http://tinyurl.com/37yaw3
Judy Ritchie

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