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In response to media enquiries about proposals to exempt food products with annual sales volume under 30 000 and with nutrition claims from complying with the Government¡¦s proposed nutrition labelling scheme, a spokesman for the Centre for Food Safety said today (April 29) that such a relaxation would create a big loophole to the proposed legislation.
¡@¡@The spokesman said nutrition claims were well-known marketing tools to attract consumers, but food products with nutrition claims did not automatically equate to healthy food products.
¡@¡@¡§If exemption is granted to food products with nutrition claims, consumers especially those with heart conditions, diabetes and other medical conditions might be adversely affected if the so-called ¡§healthy food¡¨ they consume is not genuinely healthy. This is why we require all food products with nutrition claims to meet the objective standards set out in the regulation as well as other nutrition labelling requirements.
¡@¡@¡§Non-claims related nutrition information to consumers, including people with medical conditions, is as essential as information about nutrition claims, if they want to make sure the food they consume is healthy,¡¨ he said.
¡@¡@The spokesman also refuted claims that it was not viable to test and re-label small volume products with nutrition claims, saying that these products should have been tested before they were put on the market. The cost for re-labelling should also be modest.
¡@¡@¡§It is therefore not true that products with nutrition claims such as ¡§cholesterol free¡¨, ¡§sugar free¡¨ will not be allowed under the new law. To the contrary, the new law will ensure that any food products with such claims will satisfy the objective standards and provide sufficient nutrition information to consumers,¡¨ he said.
Ends/Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Issued at HKT 21:49
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