Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to methionine and maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations (ID 706, 1615, 2913) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies was asked to provide a scientific opinion on a list of health claims pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. This opinion addresses the scientific substantiation of health claims in relation to methionine and maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations. The scientific substantiation is based on the information provided by the Member States in the consolidated list of Article 13 health claims and references that EFSA has received from Member States or directly from stakeholders. The food constituent that is the subject of the health claim is methionine. The Panel considers that methionine is sufficiently characterised. The claimed effects are "lipid metabolism" and "improvement of protein quality, modulation of lipid metabolism". The target population is assumed to be the general population. The Panel notes that "improvement of protein quality" relates to a beneficial nutritional property of a food/food constituent rather than to the relationship between a food/food constituent and health as required by Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. In the context of the proposed wordings, the Panel assumes that the claimed effect refers to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations. The Panel considers that maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations is a beneficial physiological effect. Among the references provided for the scientific substantiation of this claim one refers to the role of methionine in lipid metabolism in rats. No human data were provided on the effects of methionine intake on blood cholesterol concentrations. On the basis of the data presented, the Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has not been established between the dietary intake of methionine and the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentrations.