Health claims made on food

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 75% of all deaths in the year 2030 will be caused by mass noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) . Causes of NCDs are known and can be non-preventable (age and genetic heritage) and preventable or modifiable (unhealthy eating habits, insufficient physical activity, tobacco use) . Social and economic burden of population caused by NCDs is enormous and growing, so WHO set a specific goal in 2005 – an additional 2% reduction in chronic disease death rates worldwide per year over the next 10 years . The WHO's Action Plan 3 from 2008 promotes healthy eating habits enabling consumers to make informed choices. Declarations of foodstuffs, promotional materials and advertising campaigns are considered as means of direct producer-consumer communication, making it vital for the information written on declarations (as well as on promotional materials and in advertising campaigns) to be scientificallybased and well-understood by the consumers. Advances in knowledge and understanding of the link between nutrition and health resulted in shift from nutrition claims to health claims written on food declarations. Health claims present health benefits for consuming certain foods by consumers. Public interest in health promotion is a driving force behind the use of health claims and an incentive for innovation in food industry and pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, a well-designed legal system for approval of the use of health claims should exist. Codex Alimentarius, a joint body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO UN) and WHO defined health claims in 1997 as “any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a food or a constituent of that food and health” . Codex Alimentarius implies that national regulations concerning health claims should be harmonized in order not to disrupt free trade system . Current legislation concerning health claims in different countries