12 December 2012
Islanders are being asked for their views about new legislation on the labelling and advertising of food supplements.
Jersey’s Health Protection Department is seeking written comments as part of a consultation on draft regulations for food supplements and nutrition and health claims.
Food supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, used to supplement a normal diet. They are measured in doses to ensure their safe use as an excessive intake of vitamins and minerals may be harmful.
A health claim is any statement used on labels, in marketing or in advertising that health benefits can result from consuming a given food or from one of its components.
The two draft regulations are
- Community Provisions (Food Supplements)(Jersey) Regulations 201-
- Community Provisions (Nutrition and Health Claims on Food)(Jersey) Regulations 201-
Head of Health Protection in Jersey, Val Cameron, said “These statutory provisions will introduce controls on the labelling and composition of food supplements and introduce specific rules on vitamins and minerals in food supplements to ensure that these products are safe and appropriately labelled so that consumers can make informed choices.
"The legislation will introduce controls for nutritional labelling of all food and health claims made about all food, through labelling and advertising.”
The deadline for responses is 18 January 2013.
Food supplements and labelling: consultation on draft legislation (government and administration section)