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© EFSA ROME (AFP) - "A cause and effect relationship is not established between the consumption of milk or cheese and dental health in children (or) a healthy body weight in children and adolescents," the European Food Safety Agency said on its website.
Issuing its first eight preliminary opinions on a total of 228 product claims submitted for testing, EFSA cast doubt on commercial claims made for specific drugs.
The claim that "regulat®.pro.kid IMMUN" strengthens children's immune systems could not be verified by the evidence provided, EFSA said.
The agency, based in Parma, Italy, also found "no significant effect" of "NeOpuntia®" on blood lipid parameters (fatty acid or oil absorption) and no direct effect of "Femarelle®" on post-menopausal women's bone density.
The drug "Elancyl Global Silhouette®" has no demonstrable effect on body weight, body shape or body fat or water in humans, EFSA also concluded.
The panel further found insufficient evidence to back the claim that a-linolenic acid and linoleic acid promote children's normal growth and development.
One product, plant sterols used for lowering blood cholesterol, received a partial nod from EFSA, which proposed wording that "reflects the available scientific evidence: 'Plant sterols have been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol'."
However it said the product should be used only by those "who need and want to lower their blood cholesterol and that patients on cholesterol-lowering medication should only consume the product under medical supervision."
©AFP