Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to dietary fibre (ID 744, 745, 746, 748, 749, 753, 803, 810, 855, 1415, 1416, 4308, 4330) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies was asked to provide a scientific opinion on a list of health claims pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. This opinion addresses the scientific substantiation of health claims in relation to dietary fibre. The scientific substantiation is based on the information provided by the Member States in the consolidated list of Article 13 health claims and references that EFSA has received from Member States or directly from stakeholders. The food constituents that are the subject of this opinion are \u201cdietary fibre\u201d, \u201crich in dietary fibre\u201d and \u201csoluble fibre\u201d related to the following claimed effects: satiety, weight management, normal blood glucose concentrations, normal blood cholesterol concentrations, normal bowel function and regularity, reduction of postprandial glycaemic response, decreasing potentially pathogenic gastro-intestinal microorganisms, increasing the number of gastrointestinal microorganisms, and fat absorption. Dietary fibre is the common name for all carbohydrate components occurring in foods that are non-digestible in the human small intestine. These components include non-starch polysaccharides, resistant starch, resistant oligosaccharides with three or more monomeric units, and other non-digestible, but quantitatively minor, components when naturally associated with dietary fibre polysaccharides, especially lignin. The terms \u201csoluble\u201d and \u201cinsoluble\u201d have been used in the literature to classify dietary fibre as viscous soluble in water (e.g. pectins) or as water insoluble (e.g. cellulose) in an attempt to link different physical-chemical properties of fibre components to different physiological effects. However, the above classification is method-dependent, and water solubility does not always predict the physiological effects of dietary fibre. Total fibre and different types of fibre can be measured in foods by established methods. However, intake of dietary fibre has a number of physiological effects in humans. These effects can vary depending on the unique physical and chemical characteristics of the fibre component, in addition to the dose and mode of administration. The Panel considers that the food constituent, dietary fibre, which is the subject of this opinion, is not sufficiently characterised in relation to the claimed effects considered in this opinion. The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship cannot be established between the consumption of dietary fibre and the claimed effects considered in this opinion