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Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to vitamin B12 and red blood cell formation (ID 92, 101), cell division (ID 93), energy-yielding metabolism (ID 99, 190) and function of the immune system (ID 107) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

EFSA Journal 2009; 7(9):1223 [16 pp.]. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1223
  EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies Panel Members Jean-Louis Bresson, Albert Flynn, Marina Heinonen, Karin Hulshof, Hannu Korhonen, Pagona Lagiou, Martinus Løvik, Rosangela Marchelli, Ambroise Martin, Bevan Moseley, Hildegard Przyrembel, Seppo Salminen, Sean (J.J.) Strain, Stephan Strobel, Inge Tetens, Henk van den Berg, Hendrik van Loveren and Hans Verhagen Contact nda@efsa.europa.eu
Type: Opinion of the Scientific Committee/Scientific Panel On request from: European Commission Question number: EFSA-Q-2008-879 , EFSA-Q-2008-880 , EFSA-Q-2008-886 Adopted: 02 July 2009 Published: 01 October 2009 Last updated: 26 November 2009. This version replaces the previous one/s. Affiliation: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy
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Abstract

No abstract available

Summary

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies was asked to provide a scientific opinion on a list of health claims pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. This opinion addresses the scientific substantiation of health claims in relation to vitamin B12 and the following claimed effects: red blood cell formation, cell division, energy-yielding metabolism and function of the immune system. The scientific substantiation is based on the information provided by the Member States in the consolidated list of Article 13 health claims and references that EFSA has received from Member States or directly from stakeholders.

The food constituent that is the subject of the health claims is vitamin B12, which is a well recognised nutrient and is measurable in foods by established methods. The Panel considers that vitamin B12 is sufficiently characterised.

The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of vitamin B12 and normal red blood cell formation, normal cell division, normal energy-yielding metabolism and normal function of the immune system.

The Panel considers that, in order to bear the claims, a food should be at least a source of vitamin B12 as per Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. Such amounts can be easily consumed as part of a balanced diet. The target population is the general population.

Keywords

Vitamin B12, vitamins, cell division, red blood cells, energy metabolism, immune system, health claims.

See also