Open AccessScientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to Eff EXT ™ and maintenance of normal joint mobility pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006
Author(s) -
Inge Tetens
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
efsa journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.076
H-Index - 97
ISSN - 1831-4732
DOI - 10.2903/j.efsa.2012.3002
Subject(s) - medicine , rheumatoid arthritis , osteoarthritis , health claims on food labels , joint disease , population , physical therapy , disease , scientific evidence , alternative medicine , environmental health , pathology , chemistry , food science , philosophy , epistemology
Following an application from Nutrilinks Sarl, submitted pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 via the Competent Authority of Belgium, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) was asked to deliver an opinion on the scientific substantiation of a health claim related to Eff EXT ™ and maintenance of normal joint mobility. The Panel considers that Eff EXT ™, which is standardised pure krill oil, is sufficiently characterised. The claimed effect proposed by the applicant is “contributes to support joint flexibility”. The Panel considers that maintenance of normal joint mobility is a beneficial physiological effect. The applicant identified one human intervention study as being pertinent to the health claim. The Panel notes that chronic inflammation was an inclusion criterion of the study, that a significant number of the patients recruited were reported to have confirmed diagnosis of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or of both cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis, and that the WOMAC osteoarthritis questionnaire was administered only to patients with arthritic disease (osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis). The Panel also notes that no evidence which could justify the extrapolation of the results, obtained in patients with joint diseases characterised by chronic inflammation, to the target population, subjects without chronic joint diseases, was provided by the applicant. The Panel considers that no conclusions can be drawn from this study for the scientific substantiation of the claim. The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of Eff EXT ™ and maintenance of normal joint mobility.