Health claims on food labels
Decisions
"Enzyme rich"
The claims "enzyme rich", "rich in enzymes", "excellent source of enzymes", "high source of enzymes", or other similar statements are not acceptable claims for foods. Such claims imply that enzymes, as a class, are beneficial when ingested. This is not the case. In addition, there are no established parameters to determine whether a food is "rich" in enzymes.
However, statements or claims that indicate the presence of enzymes are acceptable i.e. "contains (naming the enzyme or enzymes)".
Oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) statements and claims
Statements or claims about Oxygen Radical Absorbing Capacity (ORAC) are not acceptable on foods because the relationship between ORAC scores and health effect in humans has not been established. ORAC scores are a measure of the rate of reaction and antioxidant capacity of a substance, determined in an in vitro test.
However, a claim about an antioxidant effect may be made on foods when a specific antioxidant function is a well-substantiated physiological effect in healthy subjects, as determined in controlled human studies. See the Acceptable Function Claims Table and the Acceptable Nutrient Function Claims Table for acceptable antioxidant claims as applied to foods of food constituents.
- Date modified: