Entrepreneurs should verify whether references to the beneficial health effects of botanicals do not appear on the packaging of their dietary supplements. Indeed, such a practice is not allowed, as confirmed by the Court of Justice of the EU in its latest judgement in case C-386/23. 

The case concerned Novel Nutriology, which sold food supplements, advertising them with slogans referring to saffron extract and melon juice extract. The company indicated that saffron extract improves mood and emotional balance, while melon extract reduces feelings of stress and exhaustion, leading to an improved quality of life. The German association Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV considered these statements incompatible with EU law and filed a lawsuit.  

The German court recalled that references to general, non-specific benefits of a nutrient or food for general good health and health-related well-being may only be made when accompanied by an approved health claim – in accordance with Regulation 1924/20061. However, EFSA22 and the European Commission have now suspended testing of health claims for botanical ingredients. For this reason, it is currently not possible for a food business operator to obtain a decision on specific health claims and therefore no such claim can accompany a general health reference. 

The Court of Justice of the EU has confirmed that the provisions of the Regulation prohibit the use of health claims in the advertising of food supplements containing botanicals. This prohibition includes: 

  • using specific health claims for such substances and describing or mentioning their psychological or behavioural functions; or  
  • inclusion of references to the general, non-specific benefits of the botanical substance for general health and health-related well-being. 

Such a reference must be accompanied by a specific and listed health claim. At the same time, as the Court pointed out, the list can only be supplemented once the Commission has completed the aforementioned studies. 

In some cases, however, permission to use such a statement may arise from Article 28(6) of the Regulation (transitional regime). This did not apply in the above case, as the dispute concerned statements relating to psychological functions, which had not been assessed and approved in Germany prior to the entry of the regulation into force. 

  1. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods ↩︎
  2. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ↩︎

image sourse: Photo by Natali Hordiiuk on Unsplash