Bridging regulation and practice: CJEU and Dutch case law on botanical health claims.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Even though botanicals are increasingly popular ingredients for food supplements, health claims related to their putative bene ts remain unclearly regulated.

Methods

Through an analysis of EU and national case law from the Netherlands, including self-regulatory decision-making, we have studied the implications of case law on botanical health claims.

Results

Our analysis reveals that there are multiple issues related to claims on botanical-containing products: whether it should be classi ed as food or medicine; what statements should be understood as health claims; what type of evidence should underlie health claims and, more specically, botanical health claims; and how to deal with online commercial communication. The case law analysis highlights rst that

SUBMITTER: Lenssen KGM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879797 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature