EU says that prunes are not a laxative
December 14th, 2011 - 11:37 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattLondon, Dec 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The European Union has defined prunes as “not a laxative.” For centuries, prunes have been used to lighten the bowel but an EU body says it cannot be classified as laxative.
Subsequently producers have been ordered not to make the claim when they come out with the product. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ruled that there is very little evidence to support the long held belief that prunes actually have laxative effect. That will surprise many people but the organization said they have carried out three studies on the subject.
One person who totally disagrees with the ruling is English lawmaker Sir Graham Watson. Reacting to the ruling, Watson said that, “The European Commission’s advisory panel which does this work has rejected 95 per cent of claims for plant-based foods, maybe in many cases with good reason, but among the claims rejected is the claim that prunes have a laxative effect.”
Well the interesting part is that Watson has challenged the EU Commissioner to prune-eating contest. Sure looking forward to such a contest.
The EFSA became a laughing stock last month when the organization ruled that water cannot prevent dehydration. The organization said any water bottling company that make such a claim could be fined and face a jail term.
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