EFSA Rejects Caffeine and Sterol Claims

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Dietetic Products,
Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) has issued an opinion reiterating a previous
conclusion that products with less than 75 mg of caffeine may not bear an
increased alertness claim, because most studies found “no effect of caffeine
doses of less than 75 mg on various cognitive tasks (simple reaction time,
choice reaction time and reaction time on other vigilance tasks).”

EFSA has also issued an opinion regarding a request to broaden the approved
cholesterol-lowering claim for plant sterol esters. In response to a request to
extend conditions of plant sterol esters to an additional food matrix (powder
supplements to be diluted in water), the panel reiterated its previous conclusion
that, “while plant sterols added to foods such as margarine-type spreads,
mayonnaise, salad dressings, and dairy products such as milk, yoghurts,
including low-fat yoghurts, and cheese have been shown consistently to
lower blood LDL-c concentrations in a large number of studies, the effective
dose of plant sterols (as powder diluted in water) needed to achieve a given
magnitude of effect in a given timeframe, cannot be established with the data
provided.”

Issue 514