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Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to vitamin K and maintenance of bone (ID 123, 127, 128, and 2879), blood coagulation (ID 124 and 126), and function of the heart and blood vessels (ID 124, 125 and 2880) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

EFSA Journal 2009; 7 (9): 1228 [20 pp.]. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1228
  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-2008-910 , EFSA-Q-2008-911 , EFSA-Q-2008-912 , EFSA-Q-2008-913 , EFSA-Q-2008-914 , EFSA-Q-2008-915 , EFSA-Q-2008-3612 , EFSA-Q-2008-3613 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 1924/2006. This opinion addresses the scientific substantiation of health claims in relation to vitamin K and the following claimed effects: maintenance of normal bone, normal blood coagulation, and normal function of the heart and blood vessels. 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 K (i.e. phylloquinone and menaquinone) which is a well recognized nutrient and is measurable in foods by established methods. The Panel considers that vitamin K is sufficiently characterised.

The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of vitamin K and the maintenance of normal bone and normal blood coagulation.
The Panel considers that, in order to bear the claims, a food should be at least a source of vitamin K as per Annex to Regulation 1924/2006. Such amounts can be easily consumed as part of a balanced diet. The target population is the general population.

The Panel concludes that the evidence provided is insufficient to establish a cause and effect relationship between the dietary intake of vitamin K2 and the normal function of the heart and blood vessels.

Keywords

Vitamin K, phylloquinone, menaquinones, bone, heart, blood vessels, health claims.

See also