Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to prune juice and maintenance of normal bowel function (ID 1166) 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 prune juice and maintenance of normal bowel function. 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/food constituent that is the subject of the health claim is prune juice. The Panel considers that prune juice is sufficiently characterised. The claimed effect is “normal bowel function/normal gastrointestinal function/normal colonic function”. The target population is assumed to be the general population. In the context of the proposed wordings, the Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to aspects of: “maintenance of bowel regularity, and laxative effect”. Changes in bowel function within the normal range e.g. reduced transit time, increased frequency of bowel movements or bulk of stools might be interpreted as improvement of bowel function. The Panel considers that maintenance of normal bowel function might be a beneficial physiological effect. Three human intervention studies cited used interventions other than prune juice, and the other references provided only general background information and did not provide data that could be used for the scientific substantiation of the claimed effect. On the basis of the data presented, the Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the consumption of prune juice and maintenance of normal bowel function.