(1)

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 health claims made on foods are prohibited unless they are authorised by the Commission in accordance with that Regulation and included in a list of permitted claims.

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 also provides that applications for authorisations of health claims may be submitted by food business operators to the national competent authority of a Member State. The national competent authority is to forward valid applications to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), hereinafter referred to as ‘the Authority’.

(3)

Following receipt of an application the Authority is to inform without delay the other Member States and the Commission thereof, and to deliver an opinion on the health claim concerned.

(4)

The Commission is to decide on the authorisation of health claims taking into account the opinion delivered by the Authority.

(5)

Following an application from Vifor Ltd, submitted pursuant to Article 14(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, the Authority was required to deliver an opinion on a health claim related to Equazen eye q® and improving reading ability (Question No EFSA-Q-2014- 00462 (2)). The claim proposed by the applicant was worded as follows: ‘Equazen eye q® (composition of EPA:DHA:GLA at a 9:3:1 ratio) improves reading ability and related cognitive functions in children’.

(6)

On 13 October 2015, the Commission and the Member States received the scientific opinion from the Authority, which concluded that a cause and effect relationship had not been established between the consumption of Equazen eye q®, a combination of EPA, DHA and GLA (at a weight ratio of 9:3:1), and improving reading ability in children. Accordingly, as the claim does not comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, it should not be authorised.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,