50. The Committee recalled that, at the suggestion of the United States, the last session had agreed to consider the amendment of Section 3.2 (Listing of Nutrients) of the Guidelines in order to require the declaration of saturated fat, sugars, fibre and sodium in cases where nutrition labelling was used. Following its approval by the Commission as new work, the proposal for the partial revision of the Guidelines had been circulated at Step 3 in CL 1997/19-FL. The Committee recalled that under the current Guidelines, where nutrient declaration was applied, the declaration of energy value, protein, available carbohydrate and fat were mandatory. The suggested amendment proposed that the declaration of sugars, fibre, saturated fat and sodium should also be made mandatory where nutrient declaration was applicable.
51. Several delegations and the Observer of the EC proposed that nutrition labelling should consist of energy value, protein, available carbohydrate and fat when nutrient declarations were made, and that declaration of sugars, fibre, saturated fat and sodium should only be included when a claim was made for one of these nutrients. It was stated that mandatory nutrition labelling for all eight nutrients would lead to consumer confusion, and that nutrition labelling for sugars, fibre, saturated fat and sodium was felt to be expensive, onerous and of little added benefit for consumers. The Observer of the CIAA stressed that labelling should be simple and easy to understand and that when a specific claim was made, mandatory nutrition labelling should only apply to energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat. The Observer of CSPI noted that nutrition labelling had become a widely accepted tool to encourage consumers to choose a healthy diet, and supported the development by the Committee of mandatory labelling programmes requiring nutrition labelling (regardless of whether a nutrient claim was made) and allowing national authorities to determine which nutrients should be listed on foods sold domestically.
52. The Delegation of Malaysia also proposed that, in view of recent additional evidence and developments concerning the link between types of fatty acids and coronary disease, when saturated fat was declared, the declaration of trans-fatty acids should also be included, and proposed that this matter be referred to the CCNFSDU. The Delegation of Argentina indicated that its national legislation required mandatory declaration of fibre expressed as dietary fibre, and that the declaration of monounsaturated fatty acids was required when a claim related to the quantity and type of fatty acids was made. Other delegations noted their various national regulations related to the nutrient declaration of one or more of the nutrients under discussion, and were of the opinion that differences in terminology and public health needs indicated the need for regulations promulgated on a national basis.
Status of the Proposed Draft Amendment to the Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling
53. As the Committee recognized that divergence in opinions existed concerning nutrition labelling on the basis of the current list or its extension to other nutrients, it decided not to amend this section of the Guidelines at this stage and returned the Proposed Draft Amendment to Step 3 for further comments (see Appendix XI). The Committee decided to seek the advice of the Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses to determine if public health needs required the mandatory labelling of sugars, fibre, saturated fat and sodium when nutrition labelling was applicable.
