Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to dietary fibre and maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations (ID 747, 750, 811) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/20061

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies was asked to provide a scientific opinion on a list of health claims pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation 1924/2006. This opinion addresses the scientific substantiation of health claims in relation to dietary fibre and the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations. The scientific substantiation is 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 food constituent that is the subject of the health claims is dietary fibre. Dietary fibre is the common name for all carbohydrate components occurring in foods that are non-digestible in the human small intestine. The terms, soluble. and, insoluble. have been used in the literature to classify dietary fibre as viscous, as soluble in water, or as water insoluble in an attempt to link different physico-chemical properties of fibre components to different physiological effects. The above classification is method-dependent, and water solubility does not always predict the physiological effects of dietary fibre. Total fibre and different types of fibre can be measured in foods by established methods. However, intake of dietary fibre has a number of physiological effects in humans, including reduction of total and/or LDL cholesterol concentrations, which vary depending on the fibre component. The Panel considers that the food constituent, dietary fibre, that is the subject of the health claim is not sufficiently characterised in relation to the claimed effect. The claimed effects are "normal cardiovascular function", "cholesterol level" and " blood cholesterol level". The Panel assumes the target population is the general population. The Panel considers that maintaining normal blood cholesterol concentrations is beneficial to human health. In weighing the evidence, the Panel took into account that the food constituent, dietary fibre, that is the subject of the health claims is not sufficiently characterised in relation to the claimed effect, and that the effects of different fibre components on blood cholesterol concentrations largely depend on their chemical composition. The Panel concludes that the evidence provided is insufficient to establish a cause and effect relationship between the dietary intake of either total dietary fibre or "water-soluble fibre" and the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations.