False claims for new foods outlawed

NEW GUIDELINES have been drawn up to regulate the claims made by food companies over products that allegedly provide a health benefit.

An influential team of experts has now formulated a code of practice on the labelling of the so-called "functional foods''. It was finalised by consumer groups, the food industry and regulatory authorities and is to prevent companies from making misleading claims that are not supported by scientific evidence.

Functional foods - where an ingredient is added to provide certain benefits to health or wellbeing - are expected to become more commonplace over the next few years as food manufacturers vie for the growing market in food products that do more than just feed.

A number of functional foods are already sold in Britain. Ribena sells a ''toothkind'' drink that supposedly keeps teeth healthy. Allied Bakeries markets a bread rich in substances that, it is claimed, delay the onset of the menopause; and Flora is developing a margarine that it claims can actively lower cholesterol levels.

Although products have to obey existing laws on food labelling, there is concern that the present legislation is inadequate at dealing with the expected proliferation of claims from manufacturers.

The new guidelines, which will be formally approved in two weeks, are aimed at addressing current loopholes that could allow food companies to misrepresent scientific research, said Roger Manley, chairman of the Health Claims Initiative, a committee drawn from the National Food Alliance, the Food and Drink Federation and local trading standards authorities.

''The most important factor of the guidelines is the need to outlaw misleading statements and half-truths ... and, where there is doubt and uncertainty, for experts in the field to give their response,'' he said.

The committee, which has taken a year to draw up its guidelines, has kept in close touch with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Health, which may provide the expertise to assess future claims of the food companies.

Mr Manley said that a number of products would not meet the code of practice. For example, Ribena's "toothkind" drink would have failed on its claim to help keep teeth healthy, he said.

''An essential part of the code is seeing the health claims in terms of the background diet. This product was surrounded by too many ifs and buts and words that didn't make it clear to the consumer the true nature of that claim,'' Mr Manley said.

Ribena, which promotes Tooth Kind as the only drink accredited by the British Dental Association (BDA), has been criticised by some dentists for failing to submit its product to an internationally agreed ''toothfriendly'' test.

FUNCTIONAL FOODS: WHAT ARE THEY, WHAT DO THEY DO?

'Bacterial'

yoghurt

How is it supposed to help you?

Said to improve the bacterial balance of the lower intestinal tract, helping to lower levels of cholesterol in the blood

What is the added

ingredient?

Live bacteria that normally live inside the gut. Lactobacillus is the

microbe of choice for many probiotic makers as it is supposed to displace harmful gut flora

Does it work?

A balanced gut flora is a prerequiste to good health. A normal diet is all that is usually needed, however, and many doctors doubt whether probiotics can help

Who sells it?

A wide range of health-food makers. Yakult Honsha in Japan has made its Yakult drinking yoghurt the brand leader, selling 23 million bottles a day worldwide

Would you feed it to your pet?

Many people probably have at some time. Care has to be taken over

delicate stomachs

'Hormonal'

bread

Boosts the levels of

hormone-like substances that mimic oestrogen. Controls "hot flushes" and might delay onset of the menopause

The bread is made of soya flour and linseed rather than wheat flour. This imparts high levels of phytoestrogens - oestrogen mimics from plants

A study of 50 menopausal women showed soya can reduce hot flushes in 40 per cent of women. The jury is out on the bread

Allied Bakeries sells Burgen bread which is

enriched with phytoestrogens. It comes from Australia where it is nicknamed the Sheila slice

Might just do some good if your pet is getting on a bit. Best not given to butch dogs or husbands

'Low-cholesterol'

margarine

Normal margarines can lower cholesterol by simply being low in fat. This margarine is said to actively lower levels of cholesterol in the blood

A substance called phytosterol which is produce by plants. Another ingredient that has a similar effect is omega-3, an extract of fish oil

The phytosterol prevents reabsorption of cholesterol from the gut into the blood. Trials suggest it lowers cholesterol by 10 per cent

Van den Berghs, a

subsidiary of Unilever and makers of Flora, aims to sell it in the UK. In Finland a similar margarine has an annual turnover of about pounds 10m

High cholesterol is a suitable target for any health campaign but not a concern for most pets

'Memory-boost'

chocolate

Helps concentration and improves memory. Products are especially

targeted at students

revising for exams and older people with memory problems

Acetylcholine is added because it is the chemical messenger that aids transmission of nerve impulses in the brain

Very doubtful. What you eat and digest does not automatically get passed the notoriously impenetrable barrier between the blood and the brain

A French company, Gerble, sells a ''memory bar'' on the other side of the channel. It has no plans to sell it in the UK, however

Eating chocolate is fun for just about any animal but don't expect to

create a breed of

super-intelligent cats

'Tooth friendly'

drink

Lowers the acidity of fruit drinks, so preventing dental erosion, and replaces sugar with sweeteners which avoids tooth decay

Closely guarded commercial secret (but believed to be chalk). Non-sugar sweeteners are well established. The chalk is supposd to

lower acidity

An independent test by Swiss scientists failed to find that the drink could be called tooth-friendly. Some British dentists disagree

SmithKline Beecham, makers of Ribena, market Tooth Kind in the UK with accreditation from the British Dental

Association

Anybody eating processed food is susceptible to dental decay, and that includes pets. Drinking soft drinks will not prevent it, however

'Anti-cancer'

tomato

Helps to prevent premature death by forming part of a diet rich in

lycopene, a substance said to have anti-cancer properties

Tomatoes are already rich in lycopene but

levels can be boosted significantly by genetic engineering

Lycopene is taken seriously as an anti-cancer agent. It may act to help to prevent oxidation, which causes damaging ''free radicals'' to form in the body

Nobody, yet. A number of companies are actively researching into lycopene. Zeneca, the biotechnology firm, is working on a lycopene-enriched tomato

Could be a genuine breakthrough in cancer prevention. Need to make a meat and tomato sauce to get your dog interested