European Food Makers in Race to Softer Health Claims

The decline in "active health" [food plus e.g. "fortified"] products came despite a growth in "passive health" [food minus e.g. "low and light"] claims on new products.

Nov 3 2010 --- New product development in the European supplements sector is slowing down and food product manufacturers are switching to more general claims in the healthy foods space, as uncertainty around EFSA health claims continues.

Innova Market Insights tracked 384 new supplement products in West Europe in the first half of 2010 (Jan-Jun 2010), compared to 405 in the corresponding period in 2009, in an analysis of the top 5 positioning categories for supplements. The leading positioning category for new supplements in H1 2010 was Weight Management (99), followed by Immune Health (91) and Digestive/Liver Health (86).

Functional foods innovation in Europe as a whole is also on decline in terms of new product launches, as manufacturers wait for European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinions on health claims. Innova Market Insights tracked 1,960 new products with an "active health" positioning (Jan-Jun 2010), compared to 2,189 new products with this positioning in the corresponding period in 2009.

This decline in "active health" [food plus e.g. "fortified"] products came despite a growth in "passive health" [food minus e.g. "low and light"] claims on new products, with 10,350 products with a passive health claim tracked (Jan-Jun 2010), compared with 8,747 new products over the same period in 2009.

"Apart from generic claims of vitamins and minerals, the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) assessment of health claims so far has resulted in mainly negative opinions," Lu Ann Williams, Head of Research at Innova Market Insights commented. "Manufacturers seem hesitant to launch new products with a strong health benefit claim if there is a chance that they will have to make a change to their labeling in the near future. With EFSA now set a new deadline of the end of June 2011 for generic Article 13 claims and opinions on botanicals set to follow at the later stage, this uncertainty is set to last for some time."

Innova Market Insights will present Ingredients in Action at this year's Health Ingredients Europe (HiE) in Madrid (Stand: R84), where the market researcher will present data on new product development in the health ingredients and nutritionals space. Key presentations will include analysis of the top ten trends driving new product development.

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