Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to
apple cider vinegar and bowel motor function (ID 1377) pursuant to
Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006[sup]1[/sup]
EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA)2
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy
Słowa kluczowe:
Apple cider vinegar
bowel motor function
health claims
1. Charakterystyka żywności / składnika
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Wpływ na poprawę funkcji motorycznej jelit
The food constituent that is the subject of the health claim is apple cider vinegar (as powder). Vinegar is an acidic liquid produced by fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key and identifying constituent, acetic acid. Natural vinegars also contain small amounts of other acids. According to FDA (2004), there is not a standard of identity for any variety of vinegar. No information on composition of apple cider vinegar powder is provided, except for one paper (Hill et al., 2005) which contains some analytical data for eight apple cider vinegar products bought by the investigators. The pH varied from 2.9 to 5.7, acetic acid content from 1.04% to 10.57%, and citric acid content from 0.00% to 18.54%.
The Panel considers that the food constituent, apple cider vinegar (as powder), which is the subject of the health claim is not sufficiently characterised.
2. Znaczenie oświadczenia dla zdrowia człowieka
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Wpływ na poprawę funkcji motorycznej jelit
The claimed effect is “digestive health and bowel function”. The Panel assumes that the target population is the general population.
In the context of the proposed wording, the Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to aspects of: “normalises/promotes bowel movement/activity/regularity”. Changes in bowel function within the normal range e.g. reduced transit time, increased frequency of bowel movements or bulk of stools might be interpreted as improvement of bowel motor function.
The Panel considers that improvement of bowel motor function within the normal range might be beneficial to human health.
3. Naukowe uzasadnienia wpływu na zdrowie człowieka - Wpływ na poprawę funkcji motorycznej jelit
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Wpływ na poprawę funkcji motorycznej jelit
Seven references were cited to substantiate the claimed effect.
Three human intervention studies (Leeman et al., 2005; Liljeberg et al., 1998; Ostman et al., 2005) used liquid vinegar (not specified as apple cider vinegar), with gastric emptying rate and/or glycaemic and insulinaemic responses as health outcomes. Hlebowicz et al. (2007) used liquid apple cider vinegar to study gastric emptying rate in diabetic subjects with diabetic gastroparesis. Ostman et al. (2001) investigated glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to regular and fermented milk products. The Panel notes that none of these five human studies addressed the relationship between the consumption of apple cider vinegar (as powder) and the claimed effect.
In a mouse model, Mohamed et al. (2001) explored the effect of cider vinegar on some nutritional and physiological parameters, none of which is relevant for the claimed effect.
One reference is a study of apple cider vinegar tablets with regard to microbiological safety, pH and component acids (Hill et al., 2005). This reference does not address the claimed effect.
The Panel notes that none of the references provided addressed the relationship between the consumption of apple cider vinegar and the claimed effect and therefore considers that these references did not provide any scientific data that could be used to substantiate the claimed effect.
The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of apple cider vinegar (as powder) and improvement of bowel motor function.
Wnioski
On the basis of the data available, the Panel concludes that:
The food constituent, apple cider vinegar (as powder), which is the subject of the health claim is not sufficiently characterised.
The claimed effect is “digestive health and bowel function”. The target population is assumed to be the general population. Improvement of bowel motor function within the normal range might be beneficial to human health.
A cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of apple cider vinegar (as powder) and improvement of bowel motor function.