Commission Directive 2003/120/EC of 5 December 2003 amending Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-12-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, labelling, nutrition

20.12.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 333/51

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2003/120/EC

of 5 December 2003

amending Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 90/496/EEC of 24
September 1990 on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs (1), and in
particular Article 5(2) thereof,

After consulting the Scientific Committee on Food,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The placing on the market of salatrims as novel food
ingredients for use in energy-reduced bakery products
and confectionery was authorised by Commission Deci-
sion 2003/867 (2), under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of
the European Parliament and of the Council (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 (4).

The Scientific Committee on Food in its opinion on the
safety assessment of salatrims for use as reduced calorie
fats alternative as a novel food ingredient, expressed on
13 December 2001, noted that the energy provided by
salatrims lies between 5 and 6 kcal/gram.

Under current rules, the energy provided by salatrims,
considered to be fats, should be calculated by using the
conversion factor for fat, provided for in Article 5(1) of
Directive 90/496/EEC, namely 9 kcal/gram. The use of
this conversion factor for the declared energy content of
a product would misrepresent its reduced energy content
achieved by the use of salatrims in its manufacture and
would thus result
in a failure to fully inform the
consumer. Therefore it is necessary to adopt the appro-
priate conversion factor for salatrims to be used for the
calculation of the declared energy value of foodstuffs.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Directive are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

Article 1

The following is added at the end of Article 5(1) of Directive
90/496/EEC:

‘— salatrims

6 kcal/g-25kJ/g’

Article 2

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 31 July 2004 at the latest. They shall forthwith
communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions
and a correlation table between those provisions and this Direc-
tive.

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a refer-
ence on the occasion of their official publication. Member
States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in
the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 5 December 2003.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 276, 6.10.1990, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 326, 13.12.2003, p. 32.
(3) OJ L 43, 14.2.1997, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1.