Dr Gilsenen spoke to Shane Starling after the NutraIngredients Antioxidants 2010 conference in Brussels about how antioxidant marketing is evolving under complex European claims regulations.
“Antioxidants were classified as health claims even though you would think they would be classified as nutrition claims and that’s because of the perceived health benefits associated with antioxidants by consumers,” she said.
Prebiotics such as inulin have also been specified by the European Commission as being implied health claims, Gilsenen said.
“It’s potentially a very alarming situation for the food industry,” she said whilst observing the market remained buoyant, and until the opinions delivered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) were written into the lawbooks, antioxidant claims remained permissible.