• Entrepreneurs
• Business information
• Certification
• CAFIA laboratories
• CAFIA opinions
• More information
• Consumers
• How to know the food market
• Results of CAFIA inspections
• Consumer rights
• List of risky sites
• Hoaxes
• Other visitors
• Press Releases
• Internships at CAFIA
• Public contracts

In the previous year, the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) carried out an inspection activity with the aim to verify whether legislation laying down rules for advertisements for foodstuffs in press, on the Internet, in leaflets, etc. is kept. During this inspection activity, around 100 advertising statements were checked within 103 inspection entries at 55 inspected persons.

Violation of legislation was revealed in 47 cases.

The most frequently concerned commodity were food supplements. Inspectors found here indication of unauthorised nutritional, health and even medical claims and misleading information.

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006, only approved health claims can be used in advertisement for food as well as health claims of which assessment has not been finished yet and which are present on so-called On hold list (these only temporarily). The use of so-called medical claims at foodstuffs including food supplements is completely prohibited by legislation as medical characteristics must not be assigned to any foodstuffs – this is reserved for medicaments only.

The highest number of non-compliant advertisements were found on the Internet, thus in e-shops or advertising websites. CAFIA ordered the inspected persons to immediately remove the non-compliant statements and will initiate an administrative procedure on imposition of a fine with them.

Results of this inspection activity pointed to the fact that the situation in the field of advertisements for food, in particular for food supplements did not improved compared to the previous year. To see the results of this type of inspection in 2016, go to the press release of 2^nd February 2017.

CAFIA’s responsibility for inspection of advertisement is laid down by amendment to Act No. 40/1995 Coll., on Regulation of Advertisement which came into force in August 2015. This responsibility does not apply to the area of TV and radio broadcasting. CAFIA co-operates with the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting in inspections of advertisement campaigns released within audio-visual and other media.

Article by: Mgr. Pavel Kopřiva – CAFIA Spokesperson, phone: +420 542 426 633

13^th February 2018