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In April the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued positive opinions on the substantiation of two health claims related to water and maintenance of normal physical and cognitive functions and maintenance of normal thermoregulation*.

Based on the information provided by the Member States in the consolidated list of Article 13 health claims and references that EFSA has received from Member States or directly from stakeholders, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies has recognised and concluded that:

–      Loss of body water of about 1 % is normally compensated within 24 hours. Without compensation and with further increase of body water loss, physical and cognitive functions are impaired. A cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of water and maintenance of normal physical and cognitive functions.

–      Water is particularly important for thermoregulation. A rise in body temperature is a consequence of both reduced sweating and reduced skin blood flow induced by dehydration. A cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of water and maintenance of normal thermoregulation.

The Panel adds that in order to obtain the claimed effects, at least 2.0 L of water should be consumed per day. This water should include that of all beverages (including drinking water) and that from food moisture, which accounts for approximately 70-80% and 30-20% of total water consumed daily, respectively**.

A third claim related to water had been proposed: “water is a basic requirement of all living things”, which was rejected by EFSA because it was considered too general and not specific, and does not refer to any specific health claim.

* Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to water and maintenance of normal physical and cognitive functions (ID 1102, 1209, 1294, 1331), maintenance of normal thermoregulation (ID 1208) and “basic requirement of all living things” (ID 1207) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/20061. EFSA Journal 2011; 9(4): 2075. Available online: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2075.htm

** EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA ); Scientific Opinion on Dietary reference values for water. EFSA Journal 2010; 8(3):1459. Available online at: www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/1459.htm

European Parliament, 09 November 2010.

Source: The European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA)

In a Conference in the European Parliament, leading nutrition experts and policy makers urged governments to do more to tackle malnutrition in Europe by making nutrition an integral part of public health policies and disease management programmes for chronic and rare diseases. The Conference also called for mandatory nutrition risk screening for all hospital patients, comprehensive nutrition guidelines for all healthcare and social-care professionals, and asked that healthy hydration be built in to good nutritional care. The Conference brought together the European Nutrition for Health Alliance (EHNA), the European Society for Clinical Nutrition & Metabolism (ESPEN), the European Parliament and the Belgian Presidency of the European Union.

More information at:

http://www.european-nutrition.org/record.jsp?type=event&ID=85