ID 1640 -
Polyphenols from red wine
PL:
EN: Polyphenols from red wine
Pdf:
1.7. Polyphenols (ID 1636, 1637, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1643)
The food constituent that is the subject of the claims is polyphenols, either in general or as derived from various plant sources, including processed fruits and vegetables, juices, grapes, red wine, olive, tea and cacao, related to the following claimed effects: “antioxidant properties”, “lipid metabolism”, “vascular functions” and “heart health”.
Polyphenols comprise a very wide group (several hundred compounds) of plant secondary metabolites including flavonoids, such as isoflavonoids and proanthocyanidins, as well as other tannins, phenolic acids and lignans with different biological activities.
The conditions of use specify 45-540 mg per day of polyphenols (usually expressed as gallic acid equivalents (GAE)), also together with other phenolic compounds such as catechin/epicatechin or caffeic acid as standard compounds. This specification refers to the traditional spectrophotometric measurement of total polyphenols by the Folin-Ciocalteau method (Singleton and Rossi, 1965), which measures the reducing capacity of compounds. The method is not specific for polyphenols because other reducing compounds such as ascorbic acid, sugars and proteins will also be included in the quantification, which leads to an overestimation of the actual polyphenol content. Total polyphenol content assessed with this method is not suitable for the characterisation of polyphenols in foods.
The conditions of use also specify foods containing min. 30 % of daily intakes of about 3000 to 5000 ORAC units per day (ID 1637). This specification refers to the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) of the food measured in vitro. An antioxidant capacity assay such as the ORAC is not an acceptable way for characterising a food/food constituent for the substantiation of a health claim because it is a non-specific assay for substances capable of protecting a red photoreceptor pigment
(β-phycoerythrin) from oxidation. The ORAC value of a food is not relevant for establishing a cause and effect relationship between a food (constituent) (e.g. polyphenols) and the possible health effect.
The references provided did not allow further characterisation of the food constituent (i.e. polyphenols from different sources) in relation to the claimed effects since the polyphenol patterns for specific foods or characteristic polyphenol molecules which could be used for standardisation were not specified, and a few publications provided only made reference to the total polyphenol content.
The Panel considers that the food constituent, polyphenols, either in general or as derived from various plant sources, which is the subject of the claims, is not sufficiently characterised in relation to the claimed effects considered in this section.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship cannot be established between the consumption of polyphenols and the claimed effects considered in this section.
Regarding polyphenols from olive, the Panel refers to an opinion on olive polyphenols characterised by their content of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives (e.g. oleuropein complex) (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products Nutrition and Allergies (NDA), 2011b).
Warunki i możliwe ograniczenia stosowania oświadczenia
Min 300 mg per day
