The Prevalence and Compliance of Health Claims Used in the Labelling and Information for Prepacked Foods within Great Britain

Abstract

In the EU and Great Britain (GB), all health claims (HCs) on food must be authorised before use and should comply with Regulation 1924/2006. In GB, all HCs, authorised or not, are listed in the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register. This study reviews the prevalence and compliance of HCs on prepacked foods sold within three GB supermarkets and via their grocery shopping websites. In June 2023, food labels and online product information of 440 products were evaluated across three food categories—dairy and dairy alternatives; fruit juices, fruit juice drinks and fruit smoothies; and teas and infusions. In store, 26.3% of products carried an HC and 28.3% online. The prevalence of HCs was higher when compared with data from 2016. Overall compliance was high, in store (94.3%) and online (90.0%), with no statistically significant difference in overall HC compliance between in store and online products (p = 0.724). The HC violations observed in the present study were due to non-compliant wording of HCs or use of non-authorised HCs. This study demonstrates changes in the HC landscape and the need for continued monitoring of the prevalence and compliance of HCs as consumer trends alter.