Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to phosphatidyl serine (ID 552, 711, 734, 1632, 1927) 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 related to phosphatidyl serine. 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 constituent that is the subject of the health claims is phosphatidyl serine related to the following claimed effects: “memory and cognitive functioning in the elderly”, “mental health/cognitive function” and “stress reduction and enhanced memory function”. Nutritional phosphatidyl serine supplements can be derived from either animal or plant sources. The animal and plant sourced phosphatidyl serine differ in fatty acid composition. Bovine brain cortex- and soy-based phosphatidyl serine are different substances and might, therefore, have different biological activities. Thus, there is considerable uncertainty in generalising results from studies done with bovine brain cortex phosphatidyl serine as the test substance to soy-based phosphatidyl serine, and vice versa. The information in the consolidated list and the references provided do not allow the Panel to characterise the food constituent, phosphatidyl serine, that is the subject of the health claims. The Panel considers that phosphatidyl serine is not sufficiently characterised. The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship cannot be established between the consumption of phosphatidyl serine and the claimed effects considered in this opinion.