Plans to ban misleading claims about food will be unveiled by the European Commission today.

The aim is to stop manufacturers making sweeping unsubstantiated statements about the benefits of their products.

Food labels will no longer be able to boast health benefits that cannot be backed up - including suggestions that the product helps slimming.

And vague and unverifiable promises of boosting energy, improving the body's immunity and helping concentration will be banned.

Under present EU food and health rules, food manufacturers have to reveal the full ingredients on labels.

But they are not obliged to provide full nutritional information and there are no clear laws regulating the use of claims such as "low fat" or high fibre".

Some food manufacturers rely on quoting professional nutritionists or doctors in their claims of benefits - but even that will no longer be an option under the commission's plans.

It is particularly concerned about labels proclaiming a food to be, for example, "ninety per cent fat-free".

This may be factually correct, says Brussels, but it is misleading because it implies a low-fat content.

In fact, ten per cent fat is "fairly high" - enough to stop a consumer buying a product if the ingredients were expressed in that way.

Labour MEP Catherine Stihler said: "Almost one in five people are obese in the UK and the number of obese children has doubled in a decade.

"It's a jungle out there as far as healthy eating is concerned.

"With pizzas, French fries, giant muffins and chocolate cookies on sale at every street corner, there's no shortage of temptation - and you can't make good food choices if you are fed the wrong information."

Wednesday July 16, 2003