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Approved heart health claims

EFSA and FDA approval

Oat beta glucan is one of only four food ingredients to be approved for heart health claims by The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).  A recent ruling by EFSA supports the claim that:

“Oat beta-glucan has been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol. Blood cholesterol lowering may reduce the risk of (coronary) heart disease”.

For the full version of the scientific opinion by EFSA, click here.

FDA

Oat beta glucan has been approved for a heart health claim in the US under FDA regulations since 1997. This ruling was reaffirmed in 2003.

Both the FDA and the EFSA health claims are based on a daily intake of 3g oat beta glucan.

For a full description of the 2003 ruling click here

Approval by other entities:

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA 1997, FDA 2003), the JHCI (2006) in the UK, the French AFSSA (2008), the Swedish Nutrition Foundation (2004, 2007), and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (2006) have already approved health claims for oat beta-glucan.

The Malaysian Ministry of Health has approved oat soluble fibre (beta-glucan) under its nutrient function claim section.