The Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation Applies to Commercial Communications Addressed to Health Professionals. (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morpurgo, Marco de; Botana, Patricia Carmona
• Is Part Of: European journal of risk regulation. Volume 7:Number 3(2016)
• Page Start: 634
• Page End: 641
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: Risk management -- Periodicals; Risk management -- Europe -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 363.102
• DOI: 10.1017/S1867299X00006164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1867-299X

Abstract

Abstract : Case C-19/15 Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV v Innova Vital GmbH (ECJ, 14 July 2016) On 14 July 2016, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment on a request for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods. The Court ruled for the first time that the Regulation applies to nutrition and health claims made in commercial communications exclusively addressed to health professionals. This represents a major breakthrough as – in a climate of uncertainty – the established industry practice was to interpret Article 1(2) in the sense that the Regulation only applied to commercial communications addressed to final consumers. From now on, food business operators will need to take further precautionary steps to ensure that any information they communicate to health professionals either qualifies as non-commercial or complies with the Regulation. The following case note analyses the content of the judgment and its main implications (authors' summary).