Products intended for use in special foods     

Food products intended for use in special foods – DIETARY PRODUCTS – are foods that because of their nature or manufacturing process are suitable to meet a special nutritional need for whom they are intended, and must be placed on the market indicating that they respond to said objective.

A special food must meet the specific nutritional needs of the following:

• Infants and toddlers in good health.               
• Certain categories of people who have particular physiological conditions and who therefore obtain special benefits from the controlled ingestion of certain food substances.
• Certain categories of people whose assimilation or metabolic processes are altered.                            

The nature or composition of the foodstuffs must make them suitable to meet the special nutritional needs of those for whom they are intended.

General criteria have been defined on the creation, movement and placing on the market (labelling, presentation and advertising) of these foodstuffs as well as criteria on the substances that may be added for specific nutritional purposes to foods intended to provide special nutrition.              

In addition to this general legislation, specific European and Spanish laws have been enacted for many of these products.  

Types of foodstuffs intended for use in special foods governed by specific laws                   

• Preparations for infants and toddlers are foodstuffs intended for use in special foods for infants and toddlers during the early months of their lives which, on their own, meet the nutritional requirement of this group until the incorporation of suitable complementary food into their diet.
• Continuation food preparations are foodstuffs intended for use in the special foods for infants and toddlers when suitable complementary foods are being incorporated into their diets, which constitute the main liquid element of a progressively diversified diet for this group.
• Cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and toddlers: these are foodstuffs intended for use in special foods that meet the specific requirement of babies and toddlers in good health, intended for infants during the weaning period and toddlers as a supplement to their diets and/or for their progressive adaptation to normal foods.   
• Foodstuffs intended for use in energy restricted diets for weight loss: these products have a special formulation which, used in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer, substitute totally or partially for the daily diet.
• Dietary foods intended for special medical uses: these are foods that have been especially prepared or formulated for the dietary treatment of patients under medical supervision. The foods are intended to meet totally or partially the food requirements of patients whose ability to ingest, digest, absorb, metabolise or excrete normal foods or certain nutrients or metabolites of said foods are limited, deficient or altered or who might need other clinically determined nutrients, the dietary treatment of which may not be derived solely by modifying the normal diet, together with other foods intended as special food, or both preparations.
• Foodstuffs suitable for people who are intolerant to gluten: these are foodstuffs intended for use in a special diet that has been specially created, prepared and/or processed to meet the particular nutritional requirement of people suffering from gluten intolerance.

Dietary products that are not governed by specific laws  

Although they are not specifically regulated, such foods as those with low sodium content, foods for diabetics, foods for premature babies and very low calorie diets for weight control are also considered to be dietary foods.

The European regulations governing dietary foods envisage the specific regulation of foods intended for those who suffer from intense muscular wear, especially foods intended for athletes. The European Commission has not to date presented any legislative proposal in this area.                        

Composition

The range of foods intended for use in special food is very wide and varied as also are the diverse technological processes used to make said food.

There is a series of nutritional substances, included in an official list, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other substances that can be added to the foods intended for special diets to guarantee that the specific nutritional requirement of people for whom said foods are intended are met.

The selection of substances for the list is based primarily on their safety, then on their availability for human use and finally on their organoleptic and technological characteristics.    

This list is not exhaustive of all the categories of nutritional substances that can be added to foods intended for use in a special diet and inclusion in the list of said substances does not mean that their incorporation into said foods is necessary or desirable.  

Specific legislation has been created for certain categories of dietary foods which regulates, inter alia, the pre-requisites relating to their composition.  

Notification of dietary products

Notification to the competent authorities of the first placing on the national market of these products is required when they are not specifically regulated or when any regulations governing said products so require.

Moreover, in cases of certain dietary foodstuffs, the notification leads to a resolution from the competent government department on the suitability of the product for its intended use, and if the resolution is favourable, to the entry of said product in the General Health Register of Foods.        

Labelling    

The labelling, the presentation or the advertising of these products may not attribute to them preventive, treatment or curative properties of a human illness or disease nor evoke such properties.              

Special legislation has been created for certain categories of dietary foods that regulates, inter alia, the requirements relating to their labelling, presentation and advertising.      

Frequently asked questions

- What are dietary foodstuffs?

- Where are foods intended for special medical uses regulated?

- For dietary products intended for a special food, is notification of the placing on the market of said products required or application for their entry in the Register?

- Has a working group on the coeliac disease been set up or is one going to be set up in which the Autonomous Regions of Spain take part?

Further information

- Food chain. Products intended for use in special food

- Legislation

Publications

- Report compiled by the Scientific Committee of the ASEAN: Metabolic hypothesis relating to hepatic toxicity associated with the consumption of certain food supplements and foodstuffs intended for special diets, which might derive from slimming diets.

- Foods suitable for people suffering from gluten intolerance