Regulatory Guidance
In the following discussion, the term "antioxidant" refers mainly to non-nutrient compounds in foods, such as polyphenols, which have antioxidant capacity in vitro, so provide an artificial index of antioxidant strength—the ORAC measurement.
Other than for dietary antioxidant vitamins -- vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E -- no food compounds have been proved with antioxidant efficacy in vivo. Accordingly, regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration of the United States and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have published guidance disallowing food product labels to claim or imply an antioxidant benefit when no such physiological evidence exists. This guidance for the United States and European Union establishes it is illegal to imply potential health benefits on package labels of products with high ORAC.
Read more about this topic: Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity
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