Nutrition Claims

A nutrition claim is a claim that a food has a particular property in terms of nutrients such as energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt, fibre, protein, vitamins or minerals. It is governed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Turkish Food Codex Regulation on Nutrition and Health Claims and applies both on labels and in advertising.

Examples

• Energy: “Low energy”, “energy-reduced”, “light”,
• Fat: “Low fat”, “fat-free”, “low saturated fat”,
• Sugar: “Low sugar”, “sugar-free”, “no added sugar”,
• Salt: “Low salt”, “salt-free”,
• Fibre and protein: “Source of fibre”, “high fibre”, “source of protein”, “high protein”,
• Vitamins and minerals: “Source of calcium”, “high in vitamin C”.

Conditions

Each nutrition claim is subject to conditions set in the Regulation. For example, a food may be presented as having “no added sugar” only if no sugar, or any other food used for its sweetening properties, has been added. For comparative claims such as “energy-reduced” or “light”, a certain reduction compared with similar products must be achieved and the basis of comparison stated.

Use in Advertising

When a nutrition claim is used in advertising, the general rules on advertising claims also apply:

• It must be clear whether the claim relates to the whole product or an ingredient.
• A product promoted as “low fat” being high in sugar or energy may make the overall impression misleading.
• Analysis reports supporting the claim should be available.

Difference from Health Claims

Nutrition claims concern a food’s content; claims linking food and health are health claims and are subject to stricter rules. The use of nutrition claims in food advertising to children requires particular care.