Dietetic foods are foods for particular nutritional purposes, such as gluten-free foods for people who are celiac, or foods for infants, pregnant women, sports players, the elderly etc.
EU rules on dietetic foods were introduced over 30 years ago to ensure the free movement of goods and to stop unfair competition.
Recent developments in dietetic food products and EU rules governing them have blurred the difference between these and regular foods that have extra vitamins or added fibre.
Consequently, the difference between "dietetic foods" for specific groups of the population and "specialised foods" for the general population or sub-groups is no longer clear for citizens, stakeholders and enforcement authorities.
In order to address this issue, the Commission adopted on 20 June 2011 a draft regulation that maintains the existing compositional and labelling rules applicable to infant and follow-on formulae, processed cereal-based foods and other baby foods and foods for special medical purposes.
Further, it establishes a single EU list of substances, instead of the three existing ones, that can be added to these foods. The substances covered in the list include, among others, minerals and vitamins.
No product will have to be withdrawn from the market as a result of the new rules.
