Food business establishments can now apply to SFDA for approval to use on the label of their food products nutrition and health claims, which are not included in national standards and regulations.

These claims will be verified by the HNCC (the SFDA Health & Nutrition Claim Committee)on the basis of the scientific evidence provided, and the framework outlined in SFDA.FD 2333 “ Requirements for Foods with Health & Nutrition Claims”, in addition to other related SFDA regulations.

A claim is generally defined as a non-mandatory statement or description, including pictures, drawings, or symbols, which claim or suggest a specific property present in a food product. Health claims are statements which, either implicitly or explicitly, indicate a relationship between health and the consumption of a food, or a food ingredient. They include function claims related to body growth and development, and risk reduction claims related to reducing the risk of developing a disease. Nutrition Claims, on the other hands, are statements which, either implicitly or explicitly, indicate that a particular food product contains certain nutrition properties such as the energy value, or the content of protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins or minerals.

Food businesses can have access to the application conditions and procedures through the following link ( Giude ). To apply for claim assessment, they are invited to fill out the designated form (available in two versions, English and Arabic) by clicking on the following link ( Form ), and send the completed forms to the following email address: hncc@sfda.gov.sa