EFSA Issues Positive Opinion for Oat Beta-Glucan

A scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a positive opinion on a disease risk reduction health claim dossier for oat beta-glucan following an application from Switzerland-based CreaNutrition AG. According to the opinion, foods providing 3 grams of oat beta-glucan per day can bear the health claim: “Oat beta-glucan has been shown to lower/reduce blood cholesterol. Blood cholesterol lowering may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The health claim still needs to be approved by the EU Commission. Bioactive oat beta-glucan is the cholesterol-lowering constituent of CreaNutrition’s OatWell oat bran ingredients.