Abstract

The European Union’s (EU) harmonized legislation on claims for foods (Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation) came into application on 1 July 2007. Today, more than four years later it has had amazingly little practical consequences for claims on the market. As it happens, many of the original essential elements of the legislation have been delayed or seem simply blocked because of a number of (un)expected complications. The massive workload and fundamental interpretation issues have crippled the implementation and continue to create an environment in which it is difficult for companies to plan future developments in the area of claims. This article explores a number of the difficulties encountered and gives an insight into how companies are currently forced to deal with this complex law in their daily practice.