France: Anses opinion against the endocrine disruptor label for vitamin D on food products

In October 2021, the French Authorities notified the European Commission of a draft text classifying the main form of vitamin D (cholecalciferol) as having endocrine disrupting properties, adding an obligation to inform the consumer on this subject (article 13 of the AGEC law, supplemented by decree 2021-1110, providing the provision of information to consumers allowing the identification of endocrine disruptors in a product).

As the European Commission, several Member States and many associations issued comments to the French authorities in the context of this notification, in particular concerning vitamin D used as a nutrient, the French authorities have requested an opinion on this subject from ANSES.

On 26 October 2022, ANSES published a detailed note and a communication indicating that it advises against including vitamin D3 in the list of substances to be mentioned as endocrine disruptors on food products, as part of implementation of the French AGEC Act.

Cholecalciferol was identified as an endocrine disruptor (ED) during its assessment by the European Chemicals Agency under the Biocides Regulation (EU) No 528/2012.

However, ANSES stresses that the doses of cholecalciferol used in biocidal products to eradicate rodents are far higher than the doses of vitamin D provided by a normal diet, including foods fortified with vitamin D. ANSES considers that identifying cholecalciferol as an ED on food product labelling (or other equivalent sources of information) would contribute to an incorrect perception of the risk and could deter some people from consuming foods containing vitamin D. Such labelling could therefore make it harder to meet adequate nutritional requirements for vitamin D.

The French authorities would have to take into account this opinion before any publication of the final text.