Cognitive Health Claims Fail to Meet EFSA Standards

With neurodegenerative disease rates expected to explode in the decades to come, many food companies are focusing on cognitive health, and searching for communication opportunities for cognitive health claims.

Naturalpha, international consulting, scientific and clinical research company in Nutrition and Health has analyzed health claim opinions released to date by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This analysis provides food industrials with insight as to the feasibility of future cognitive health claims opportunities.

Since August 2008, 45 opinions have been released by EFSA concerning claims for cognitive function, making this the sixth most common health topic in terms of health claims applications. However, 76% of the claims received an unfavorable opinion from EFSA.

Naturalpha analyzed the repartition of functional ingredients, observing for example that essential fatty acids are the major ingredient class for this topic, probably due to the growing amount of data linking omega 3 fatty acids and cognition. Naturalpha also detailed the main reasons for EFSA criticism: study design (89%), product characterization (4%), claim characterization and wording (15%), and lack of studies in the appropriate target population (13%). This type of analysis and insight aims to help food professionals to build relevant R&D and claims strategies.