Health claim 'Chinese whispers' may haunt approval process
General translation | General interest
28-Apr-2008
By Shane Starling
"Subtle language differences" may confound regulators in the midst of translating thousands of health claims ahead of a pan-European 2010 approval deadline, according to various industry sources.
They are concerned certain words and phrases such as "restores health" and "improves function" may get lost in translation, leading to some claims being interpreted as medicinal in certain member states.
Medicinal claims are prohibited under the auspices of the European Union health and nutrition claims regulation that was enacted in January 2007.