martes, 22 de octubre de 2013

Latin America a diverse regulatory pool for functional food says EAS

Strategic advice on nutritional products

Successfully launching functional foods across Latin America requires a clear understanding of the diverse legislations from country to country EAS has said.

Ainhoa Larrañaga, regulatory affairs manager at EAS’ Latin America office in Buenos Aires, said that legislative differences include issues of classification in terms of whether products are considered food or medicine, different rules on the use of botanicals and varying limits on distribution channels.

Ms Larrañaga also highlighted that while in a number of countries in the region regulations are still limited on the use of ingredients and levels, trends are moving towards the consideration of safety rather than Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for setting maximum levels, and an interest in notification systems rather than registration.

“The regulatory disparities across the region do not facilitate the marketing of products with just one formula and marketing strategy, as permitted ingredients, levels and use of claims vary from country to country,” she said. “Companies should be aware of these regulatory discrepancies when launching their products regionally.”

Ms Larrañaga highlighted that many countries in the region are also actively developing legislation relating to claims and nutrition labelling, with Brazil in the process of making amendments to its nutrition claims regulation, Argentina developing a regulation on health claims, and Mexico and Colombia having introduced new nutrition labelling regulation this year.

“Unlike the European Union and the ASEAN region, there is no harmonisation as yet for the whole Latin America region,” said Ms Larrañaga. “But there are stirrings towards standardised norms. There are standardised rules for food and nutrition labelling within Mercosur, which is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. And in Central America nutrition labelling as well as food additive rules have been standardised in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.”

For more information on regulatory requirements and developments in the Latin America region contact the EAS Latin America office in Buenos Aires at info@eas-americalatina.com or visit www.eas-americalatina.com

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