ID 1661 - Tauryna

PL: Tauryna
EN: Taurine
Pdf: taurine

Oświadczenie (2)

1. Charakterystyka żywności / składnika

The food constituent that is the subject of the health claims is taurine (2-amino-ethanesulfonic acid). Taurine is a well recognised nutrient and is measurable in foods by established methods.
Taurine occurs naturally in foods of animal origin and is generally absent from foods of plant origin.
The Panel considers that the food constituent, taurine, which is the subject of the health claims, is sufficiently characterised.

2.4. Utrzymanie prawidłowego funkcjonowania serca (ID 1661)

The claimed effect is “for cardiovascular system health”. The Panel assumes that the target population is the general population.
In the context of the proposed wordings and the clarifications provided by Member States, the Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to the maintenance of normal cardiac function.
The Panel considers that maintenance of normal cardiac function is a beneficial physiological effect.

3. Naukowe uzasadnienia wpływu na zdrowie człowieka

Taurine is synthesised in the body from sulphur containing amino acids, especially from cysteine, by oxidation of the sulphur function and decarboxylation. This last step is rate limiting. Compensatory
mechanisms for dietary taurine deprivation (e.g. in vegans) include alteration of the bile salt glycine/taurine ratio, decrease in whole body taurine turnover and reduction of urinary excretion of taurine (Kendler, 1989). Taurine concentrations in tissues, particularly in the brain, are largely independent of taurine intakes. However, endogenous synthesis and usual consumptions can be insufficient to meet the metabolic needs in certain pathological conditions, so that taurine is considered to be a conditionally indispensable amino acid, particularly in preterm infants (Lourenco and Camilo, 2002).

3.2. Utrzymanie prawidłowego funkcjonowania serca (ID 1661)

Fourteen references have been provided for the substantiation of the claim; five of them were not available to the Panel despite reasonable efforts made to retrieve them. Among the available references there were four narrative reviews in which the health relationship was stated without providing original data, two animal studies, two in vitro studies and one human study. Among them, only the human study (Azuma et al., 1992), one ex vivo animal study (Raschke et al., 1995) and one in vitro study (Takahashi et al., 1997) addressed the claimed effect.
The study by Azuma et al. (1992) was an uncontrolled intervention in 10 patients suffering from congestive heart failure who received 3 g/day of taurine (above the proposed condition of use of 75 to 500 mg/day) for 6 weeks while continuing their usual pharmacological treatment. The Panel considers that no conclusion can be drawn from this small uncontrolled study.
The study by Raschke et al. (1995) used a model of ischemia-reperfusion injury in the isolated guinea pig heart, and the study by Takahashi et al. (1997) assessed the effect of taurine on calcium overload in cultured cardiomyocytes. The Panel considers that evidence provided in ex vivo animal studies and in in vitro studies is not sufficient to predict the occurrence of an effect of taurine consumption on maintenance of normal cardiac function in humans.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of taurine and maintenance of normal cardiac function.

Warunki i możliwe ograniczenia stosowania oświadczenia

75-150 mg