Ruth Maslo, Gertrud Morlock, Hartwig Sievers, Antje Preußker, Karin Bauer, Marion Gebhart, Norbert Pahne, Sabina Schneider, Brigitte Schlagintweit, Sylvia Terlinden

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 17 (2022), Issue 4, Page 284 - 299

Though the market for health food with plant extracts is steadily growing, harmonized Europe-wide legal requirements for those substances are still missing. This paper aims to raise awareness of the challenging issues involved. The large variety of plant extracts, important ways to influence their quality, and aspects of quality control as well as the current legal basis for classification and evaluation of botanical extracts are discussed. Emphasis is placed on issues such as adulteration, labelling requirements and criteria for assessing extracts as potential novel food. Furthermore, it is shown that the complexity of plant extracts requires modern non-target methods which are able to detect targeted as well as unknown compounds with functional or bioactive properties.

Marion Gebhart

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 8 (2013), Issue 6, Page 386 - 395

The forthcoming mandatory nutrition declaration requires a harmonized approach by the Member States with respect to official controls and the interpretation of the results. A first step is the publication of a Guidance Document by the European Commission defining general rules and setting tolerances for nutrient values declared on a label. Bearing these principles in mind may help the food business operators in the process of establishing an appropriate and reliable nutrition declaration. This Guidance Document is introduced and commented from a scientific point of view.