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Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to 5 hydroxytryptophan and enhancement of mood (ID 1575) and attention (ID 1828) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

EFSA Journal 2009; 7(9):1273 [11 pp.]. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1273
  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-2008-2312 , EFSA-Q-2008-2561 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 5-hydroxytryptophan and enhancement of mood and attention. 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 5-hydroxytryptophan. The Panel considers that 5-hydroxytryptophan is sufficiently characterised.

Enhancement of mood

The claimed effect is “mood enhancement”. The Panel considers that enhancement of mood might be beneficial to human health.

The Panel notes that the evidence provided does not establish that clinically depressed patients are representative of the general population with regard to mood enhancement, or that results obtained in studies with clinically depressed subjects can be extrapolated to mood enhancement in the general population.

On the basis of the data available, the Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the dietary intake of 5-HTP and enhancement of mood.

Attention

The claimed effect is “mental state and performance”. In the context of the proposed wording, the Panel assumes that the claimed effects relate to concentration and reduction of restlessness. The Panel considers that normal attention might be beneficial to human health.

The Panel considers that the evidence provided does not establish that clinically ill patients with anxiety, panic and sleep disorders are representative of the general population with regard to normal attention, or that results obtained in studies on subjects with anxiety, panic and sleep disorders can be extrapolated to normal attention in the general population.

On the basis of the data available, the Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the dietary intake of 5-HTP and normal attention.

Keywords

5-Hydroxytryptophan, mood enhancement, attention, health claims

See also