Health Claims

A health claim characterizes the relationship between a substance and a disease or health-related condition. This type of claim explains that a food or food component may reduce the risk of a disease or a health-related condition.

Health claims:

• must contain the elements of a substance and a disease or health-related condition;
• are limited to claims about disease risk reduction;
• cannot be claims about the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, or treatment of disease; and
• are required to be reviewed and evaluated by FDA prior to use

An example of an authorized health claim is, "Adequate calcium and vitamin D as part of a healthful diet, along with physical activity, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in later life" (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 2017).