Foods for particular nutritional uses, medical foods and infant formula: Guidance notes and notification forms

Wednesday 22 October 2003

A food for a particular nutritional use is one which owing to its special composition or process of manufacture, is clearly distinguishable from food intended for normal consumption and is sold in such a way as to indicate its suitability for its claimed particular nutritional purpose.

A particular nutritional use means the fulfilment of the particular nutritional requirements of

• certain categories of persons whose digestive processes are, or whose metabolism is, disturbed, or
• certain categories of persons whose physiological condition renders them able to obtain a special benefit from the controlled consumption of any substance in food, or
• infants or young children in good health

The Regulations effectively require that those foods for particular nutritional uses, which are neither covered, nor to be covered, by Directives on specific types of foods for particular nutritional uses be notified to the Food Standards Agency upon first marketing.