Press Releases
Government launches public consultation on regulation of nutrition and health claims on formula products and prepackaged foods for infants and young children under the age of 36 months
The Government today (January 6) released a consultation document proposing
a regulatory framework to enhance the regulation of nutrition and health
claims on infant formula, follow-up formula and prepackaged foods for
infants and young children under the age of 36 months in Hong Kong through
legislation to safeguard the health of infants and young children. The
consultation exercise will last for more than three months until April 17.
Speaking at a press conference on the consultation document today, the Under
Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, said that for infants
and young children, nutrition is essential for their growth, tissue repair
and maintenance of good health. The superiority of breastfeeding in ensuring
physical and psychosocial health and wellbeing of mother and child, as well
as the important impacts of early nutrition on long-term health of the child
are widely recognised.
"It is hence of paramount importance to prevent practices which would
discourage breastfeeding, and to ensure that parents are provided with
accurate and appropriate information on formula products (i.e. infant
formula and follow-up formula for infants and young children) and
prepackaged foods for infants and young children under the age of 36 months
(IYC foods) to facilitate informed choice.
"Nutrition and health claims are commonly found in formula products, and to
a lesser extent in IYC foods. Factually correct food labels and claims can
provide consumers with useful information to arrive at informed choices. In
contrast, incorrect or misleading nutrition and health claims on formula
products and IYC foods may cause undue influence on the decisions of parents
and caregivers on whether to breastfeed, and may in turn adversely impact on
their children's health.
"There are voices in the community that the Government should enhance the
regulation of nutrition and health claims on formula products and IYC foods
by way of legislation to prevent these claims from bearing undue influence
on the decisions of mothers on whether to breastfeed. From the angle of food
safety, we also do not want parents and caregivers to choose these food
products for their children based on dubious nutrition or health claims,
which may in turn adversely affect the health of infants and young
children," Professor Chan said.
As such, the Government proposes to establish a regulatory framework to
enhance the regulation of nutrition and health claims on formula products
and IYC foods. The purposes of the proposed regulatory framework are:
* to better protect the health of infants and young children under the age
of 36 months; and
* to facilitate effective regulatory control over nutrition and health
claims on formula products and IYC foods.
The nutrition and health claims proposed to be regulated include:
* Nutrient content claim: a nutrition claim that describes the level of a
nutrient contained in a food (e.g. "contains choline (144mg / 100g)");
* Nutrient comparative claim: a nutrition claim which compares the nutrient
levels and/or energy value of two or more foods (e.g. "increased DHA level
by 3 times (compared to its original formula)");
* Nutrient function claim: a health claim which describes the physiological
role of the nutrient in growth, development and normal functions of the body
(e.g. "phospholipids (PhD) are essential for the function of brain cells");
* Other function claim: a health claim which concerns specific beneficial
effects of the consumption of foods or their constituents, in the context of
the total diet, on normal functions or biological activities of the body.
Such claims relate to a positive contribution to health or to the
improvement of a function or to modifying or preserving health (e.g. "probiotics
helps to maintain a healthy digestive system"); and
* Reduction of disease risk claims: a health claim which relates the
consumption of a food or food constituent, in the context of the total diet,
to the reduced risk of developing a disease or health-related condition
(e.g. "fortified with an appropriate level of iron to reduce the risk of
anaemia").
The Government has come up with five overarching principles as follows:
* Nutrition claims (i.e. nutrient content claims and nutrient comparative
claims) should be prohibited in infant formula;
* Reduction of disease risk claims should be prohibited in formula products
and IYC foods;
* Nutrition claims (i.e. nutrient content claims and nutrient comparative
claims) and nutrient function claims should be permitted in IYC foods;
* Nutrients or constituents permitted to be the subjects of claims should be
of high importance to the health of infants and young children; and
* Nutrition and health claims should meet specific content conditions and
health claims should be scientifically substantiated and have undergone
credible evaluation process.
According to the first three principles, certain claims on certain formula
products or IYC foods will be allowed while some others will be prohibited.
Together they would set the boundary for the regulatory framework. Within
this boundary, the regulatory options for some product-claim combinations
are open for discussion, namely:
* Nutrient function claim on infant formula;
* Nutrition claim (i.e. nutrient content claim and nutrient comparative
claim) and nutrient function claim on follow-up formula; and
* Other function claim on formula products and IYC foods.
The Government has proposed in the consultation document regulatory options
for various product-claim combinations for consideration, including adopting
an inclusive approach (whereby all of the above claims would be allowed),
restrictive approach (whereby all of the above claims would be prohibited),
or taking the middle ground in allowing some claims but prohibiting others.
The annex summarises the different scenarios under the inclusive and
restrictive approaches.
The Government also proposes to develop a mechanism for establishing and
revising a list of approved claims with a view to providing clear guidance
for the trade to make nutrition and health claims on the relevant products
legally. A grace period will also be provided to allow time for the trade to
reformulate their products, modify their packaging, or refine their
marketing strategy as necessary, to comply with the new requirements.
In addition, the proposed regulatory framework will govern not only the
nutrition and health claims made on the labelling or packaging of formula
products and IYC foods, but also those claims in the advertisements relating
to these products.
Details of the proposed regulatory framework are set out in the consultation
document which can be downloaded from the website of the Food and Health
Bureau (www.fhb.gov.hk)
or the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene
Department (www.cfs.gov.hk),
or obtained from the following locations:
* Communication Resource Unit of the Centre for Food Safety
(at 8/F, Fa Yuen Street Municipal Services Building, 123A Fa Yuen Street,
Mong Kok, Kowloon);
* District Offices of the Home Affairs Department; and
* District Environmental Hygiene Offices of the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department.
The public can send their views on or before April 17, 2015 by email (claims_consultation@fehd.gov.hk),
letter (Risk Assessment Section, Centre for Food Safety, Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department, 43/F, Queensway Government Offices, 66
Queensway, Hong Kong) , or fax (28933547).
Ends/Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Issued at HKT 21:08
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Annex