EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX 
SANCO/11552/2011 Rev. 3 
(POOL/E4/2011/11552/11552R3-
EN.doc) […](2011) XXX draft 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX 
amending Regulation (EC) n° 1924/2006 with regard to the list of nutrition claims 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX 
amending Regulation (EC) n° 1924/2006 with regard to the list of nutrition claims 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,   
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods1, and in 
particular Article 8(2) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 provides that  nutrition claims made on 
foods shall only be permitted if they are listed in the Annex to that Regulation, which also sets out the conditions  of use of such claims. 
(2) After consulting the Member St ates and the stakeholders, in particular food business 
operators and consumer groups, it was concl uded that it is necessary to add new 
nutrition claims to the list of permitted nutri tion claims and to modify the conditions of 
use of the claims already permitted by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.  
(3) Reformulation towards healthier products with lower energy, fat, saturated fat, 
salt/sodium and sugars content is promoted  at both national and the European Union 
levels, as the Council
2 and the European Parliament3 called to support activities aimed 
at reformulating foods. To communicate thes e nutritional improveme nts, operators use 
nutrition claims subject to th e condition that the reduction is  at least 30%, or 25% for 
salt. For certain nutrients reduction of th e order of 25-30% is however difficult for 
technological and organoleptic reasons. C onsumer acceptance is higher for moderate 
and stepwise reduction, compared with 'reduced ' or 'light' variants. Such more modest 
reductions are also more feasible and achie vable by more operator s. A wider range of 
reformulated products with such mode st improvements but acceptable by more 
consumers could become available and theref ore lead to a bigger impact in term of 
public health, compared with the 'light' products which are consumed by a limited part 
                                                 
1 OJ L 404, 30.12.2006, p. 9. 
2 Conclusions of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council of 5 and 6 
December 2007 entitled "Putting an EU strategy on Nutrition, Overweig ht and Obesity related Health 
Issues into operation", 16788/07. 
3 European Parliament resolution of 25 September 2 008 on the White Paper on nutrition, overweight and 
obesity- related health issues, OJ C 8 E, 14.1.2010, p. 97.  
EN 3   EN of the consumers. Reduction of at least 15%  in these nutrients can already affect 
positively the overall diet and therefore the use of an appropriate nutrition claim for 
commercial communication should be allowe d. However, in order to prevent any 
confusion with the claim 'light', which id entifies a type of product with a reduced 
nutrient content compared to a similar produc t, the claim 'now contains X% less of 
[energy, fat, saturated fat, salt/sodium, and/or sugars]' should only be used where new 
recipes are applied to sta ndard products and that use should be limited in time. 
(4) Reduction in saturated fat is onl y beneficial when it is not substituted or when it is 
substituted by unsaturated fat. Substitution of  saturated fat by trans fatty acids is not 
beneficial for health and therefore the condi tions of use should be designed to avoid 
substitution by trans fatty acids. When suga rs are reduced, consumers expect reduction 
in energy, but a substitution by fat would le ad to an increased energy. The claim 
stating that sugars have been reduced s hould therefore be permitted only when the 
energy of the food does not in crease after reformulation. 
(5) Salt has been used as a preservative a nd a taste enhancer. As new technology has 
developped and scientific a dvice on salt has become genera lly accepted, manufacturers 
are making efforts to produce more and more products without addition of salt where 
technologically feasible. However, the clai m stating that salt/sodium has not been 
added to a particular food product is curr ently not permitted. Given the particular 
interest from the health point of view to encourage such i nnovation, it would be 
appropriate to enable manufacturers to inform  consumers of this particular aspect of 
the production process. To avoid use of such  a claim on food naturally high in sodium, 
its use should be limited to food low in sodium. 
(6) The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 should therefore be amended 
accordingly. 
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Anim al Health, and neither the European 
Parliament nor the Council have opposed them, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
The Annex to Regulation (EC) n°1924/2006 is amende d in accordance with the Annex to this 
Regulation. 
Article 2 
Products placed on the market prior to [ the first day of the month 18 months after the entry 
into force of this Regulation ] which do not comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) 
No 1924/2006 as amended by this Regulation may be  marketed until the stocks are exhausted.  
EN 4   EN Article 3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 The President  José Manuel BARROSO  
EN 5   EN ANNEX  
The Annex to Regulation No 1924/2006 is amended as follows: 
(1) After the entry concerning the cl aim 'SODIUM-FREE or SALT-FREE', the 
following entry is inserted: 
"NO ADDED SODIUM / SALT A claim stating that sodium/salt has not been  added to a food and any claim likely to 
have the same meaning for the consumer  may only be made where the product does 
not contain any added sodium/salt or any other ingredient containing added 
sodium/salt and the product contains no mo re than 0,12 g sodium, or the equivalent 
value for salt, per 100 g or 100 ml." 
(2) In the entry concerning the claim 'REDUCED [NAME OF THE NUTRIENT]', the 
following paragraphs are added: 
"The claim 'reduced saturated fat', and any claim likely to have the same meaning for 
the consumer, may only be made: 
(a) if the sum of saturated fatty acids and of  trans fatty acids in the product bearing 
the claim is at least 30 % less than the sum of saturated fatty acids and of trans 
fatty acids in a similar product; and 
(b) if the content in trans fatty acids in th e product bearing the claim is equal to or 
less than in a similar product. 
The claim "reduced sugars", and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the 
consumer, may only be made if the amount  of energy of the product bearing the 
claim is equal to or less than the amount of energy in a similar product.” 
(3) After the entry concerning the claim 'LIGHT/LITE', the following entry is inserted: 
“NOW CONTAINS X % LESS [ENERGY, FAT, SATURATED FAT, 
SODIUM/SALT AND/OR SUGARS] 
Reformulated products where the reduction in content is at least 15 % for energy, fat, 
saturated fat, salt/sodium or sugars may bear the claim "now contains X % less 
[energy, fat, saturated fat, s odium/salt and/or sugars]" or any claim likely to have the 
same meaning for the consumer. This cl aim shall be followed by a statement 
indicating the content of the nutrient or en ergy for which the claim is made, prior to 
reformulation, expressed per 100 g or 100 ml. A claim may be used for a maximum 
of one year following the placing on the market of the reformulated product. 
Products that have been placed on the market and labelled before the end of this period may continue to be sold  until stocks are exhausted.  
EN 6   EN The claim 'now contains X % less of satura ted fat', and any claim likely to have the 
same meaning for the consumer, may only be made: 
(a) if the sum of saturated fatty acids and of  trans fatty acids in the product bearing 
the claim is at least 15% less than the sum of saturated fatty acids and of trans fatty acids in the original product prior to the reduction; and 
(b) if the content in trans fatty acids in th e product bearing the claim is equal to or 
less than in the original product. 
The claim 'now contains X % less of sugars', and any claim likely to have the same 
meaning for the consumer, may only be made if the amount of energy of the product bearing the claim is equal to or less th an the amount of ener gy in the original 
product."