The regulation of health claims varies widely between countries all over the world. A great proportion have no regulations specific to health claims, some countries disallow any reference to disease in a claim. A small number permit specified “disease risk-reduction” claims or “product-specific” health claims, while a larger number allow “nutrient function” or “other function” claims. Yet, where there are no regulations that prohibit or permit health claims, many countries have experienced a proliferation of what are termed “misleading” health claims. These health claims may be strictly truthful, but can leave consumers unclear about the properties of the product.
Some consensus has thus emerged amongst scientific and legal communities that a clear regulatory framework is the solution to reducing the number of vague, misleading claims.
Currently, there are no harmonised regulations for health claims in Latin America. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the different existing national legislations, and compare them in depth.
The states of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are members of the Central American Integration System, and are the only countries in Latin America that share regulations for health claims1. On the other hand Colombia 2, Chile3, Mexico4 and Brazil5 have different regulations regarding health claims. Argentina6 introduced recently guidelines on the assessment of the use of prebiotics and probiotics in foods. This is an example of a growing trend towards the regulation of health claims in Latin America. The rest of Latin-American countries have no regulations regarding this subject.
Maria Cristina Lopez kitty@inti.gob.ar
References
1 Resolution N°281-2012 COMIECO-LXII
2 Resolution N°288-2008 Ministry of Social Protection
3 Resolution N° 556-05 Ministry of Health
4 NOM-051-SCFI/SSAI-2010 Health and Economy Ministries
5 Resolutions N°17-1999/ N°18-1999 ANVISA
6 Resolutions N°261-1999/ N°22-2011 Health and Agriculture Ministries
