On July 20 2016 the Regulation (EU) 609/2013 is going to enter into force and repeal the Directive 2009/39/EC about the ADAPs (foods for particular nutritional needs).
This Regulation will revise the current one which is applicable to early childhood foods, foods for special medical needs and surrogate foods for weight-loss diets.
The Regulation (EU) 828/2014, and its provisions regarding the absence of gluten or the reduced content of gluten in foods, will continue to be the relevant legislation for foods for person who suffers from celiac disease.
The application of this Regulation (EU) 828/2014 - about informing the consumers on the absence or the reduced presence of gluten in foods - provides that such information may be accompanied on the labelling by the words "specifically formulated for people intolerant to gluten" or "specifically formulated for person who suffers from celiac disease". It will apply to the food expressly produced, prepared and/or processed for the purpose of:
- reduce the gluten content of one or more gluten-containing ingredients
or
- replace gluten ingredients with other ingredients that are naturally gluten-free.
What will happen with the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 609/2013?
From July 2016 gluten-free products, currently classified as ADAP, will be common foods in which the “gluten free” indication can be followed by the words "specifically formulated for people intolerant to gluten" or "specifically formulated for person who suffers from celiac disease".
These words may also follow the indication “very low in gluten”, which however can only be used for foods containing deglutinated ingredients.
In the meantime, before the entry into force of the new EU Regulation (EU) 609/2013, the above regulations can be applied to ADAP products.
In this case, the foods for people who suffer from celiac disease will no longer be qualified as “dietetic”.
The peculiarity of the celiac disease formulations - which replace those containing gluten cereals - will be the fact that these foods will display the words “with a very low gluten content” on the label, followed by one of the two usual indications "specifically formulated for people intolerant to gluten" or "specifically formulated for person who suffers from celiac disease".