NDA panelist offers restored immune system claims hope

Restoring a suppressed immune system to full-function could win a health claim, EFSA health claim panelist, Henk van Loveren said at last week’s gut/immune health meeting in Amsterdam.

Van Loveren, professor of immunotoxicology at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and a member of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA), said some results that showed recuperation of the immune system in the elderly could be useful in a broader sense.

“But I don’t say it is easy,” he said noting the difficulty of showing clinically beneficial effects in the immune area that has plagued the probiotic and prebiotic sectors since the NDA began delivering opinions in August 2008.