Commission Directive 2003/120/EC of 5 December 2003 amending Directive 90/496/EEC on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)

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
,
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) The placing on the market of salatrims as novel food ingredients for use in energy-reduced bakery products and confectionery was authorised by Commission Decision 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).
(2) 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.
(3) 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 appropriate 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,