Botanicals and the Regulatory Framework on Food Supplements in the European Union: a Tricky Relationship

Journal title AGRICOLTURA ISTITUZIONI MERCATI
Author/s Pamela Lattanzi
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2015/2-3
Language English Pages 21 P. 111-131 File size 214 KB
DOI 10.3280/AIM2015-002008
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In the EU and many other countries (China, Japan, Usa, Canada, etc.), there is a growing interest in producing and consuming health food products. Botanicals (e.g. plants and preparations made from plants, algae, fungi or lichens) represent a large segment of the health food category and their regulation presents several critical issues due to their complex nature and multifaceted usage. This article therefore gives an overview of the most important issues related to the regulation of botanicals in the food supplements sector. After a brief description of the regulatory status of botanical based foodstuffs, it outlines the legal framework of botanical food supplements, taking into consideration the interferences between the medicinal domain and the food sector in the classification of borderline botanical products and the issue of the safety assessment of botanicals. In the final part, it deals with the thorny question of the health claims made on such products.

Keywords: Botanical, Health Food, Food Supplement, Borderline Product, Safety, Labelling.

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Pamela Lattanzi, Botanicals and the Regulatory Framework on Food Supplements in the European Union: a Tricky Relationship in "AGRICOLTURA ISTITUZIONI MERCATI " 2-3/2015, pp 111-131, DOI: 10.3280/AIM2015-002008