Misleading Health Claims: The Tea That Breaks the Law

Recently, Kusmi Tea launched a new tea called Rituel - Minceur. It's a blend of organic green tea with green tea extracts (94%), organic mate, natural cherry and strawberry flavors. The tea is described as a slimming tea thanks to an active ingredient, EGCG, which promotes fat oxidation and has been studied in three clinical studies on weight. This blend is said to stimulate our metabolism and burn calories. There's also a dosage: 3 cups a day (200mL, 2g / sachet) as well as a contraindication (pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under 18 and no more than 800mg EGCG and 6 cups a day). So far, no tea seller has gone this far in proposing wellness teas, so it's natural to ask what health claims are possible, and are they verified on the scale of the tea and on the scale of this blend? 

What are the regulations governing health claims on tea?

Since 2007, health claims (any message that affirms, suggests or implies the existence of a link between health and a foodstuff) have been regulated by European regulation (EC) n°1924/2006. This guarantees transparent information for consumers, while regulating what tea sellers can say. Each product category is subject to regulation, including plants such as tea. More than 2,000 health claims on plants and botanical substances have been “put on hold” by the European Commission. In practical terms, this means that the Community authorization procedure for the use of these claims is put on hold while the EFSA, a body responsible for the scientific validation of health claims, assesses them. Very specific terms may be used, and only these, but they are not legally valid and must be verified by the commission.

In the table of generic health claims for tea, refer to tab 2 (terms translated from English) and look for the boxes referring to tea (for example, line 1103). Each term (e.g. green tea, etc.) is associated with a specific effect that must be used for that/those term(s) and not another (e.g. EGCG). A set of proprietary labels are associated with them, and these must be used (e.g.: Antioxidants help protect the body by strengthening natural defenses against free radicals). In the case of Kusmi Tea, it's: green tea / EGCG / green tea extracts / mate. They can use lines 1103, 1106, 1107, 1111 to 1124 and 1274 to 1280 to talk about green tea, but for EGCG, only lines 1103 and 1107 can be used.

Based on these lines, Kusmi Tea is entitled to speak of weight control/management, contribution to fat oxidation, metabolic stimulation and calorie burning for these two terms, since the wordings and biological functions are accepted (bearing in mind that these claims are pending verification!!!). On the other hand, Kusmi Tea writes “tea for slimming”, this term does not appear in the pending health claims. So they can't write “Tea for slimming”. Similarly, in the case of mate (whose effects are surprisingly not mentioned on the product sheet), a post dated May 17, 2024 states that it is “rich in antioxidants”. However, the only line dedicated to mate (2058) indicates that the accepted function is drainage/diuretic. Kusmi Tea can therefore not write that mate is rich in antioxidants and must justify all the terms chosen that relate to antioxidants.

In Kusmi Tea's instagram posts (notably from May 25, 2024), “green tea is known for its antioxidant virtues”. According to the table, since they spoke of “antioxidants” (contrary to what is written on the product sheet), Kusmi must specify the function “antioxidants” and must justify its words scientifically (which was not done in the instagram post).

What category does a tea with health claims fall into (medicine, food supplement, etc.)?

As you can see, it's very difficult to talk about generic health claims for tea. On the one hand, a list of terms awaiting verification by the institutions is available to professionals and private individuals, while on the other, there are frequent breaches, notably with regard to therapeutic claims, which are prohibited (fight against, used for, used in treatment, etc.). The claim “detox” with another term “superfood” is very common in tea and is a prohibited claim. It is therefore important to ensure that Rituel-Minceur is not presented as a drug or dietary supplement.

A drug is defined as “any substance or composition represented as having curative or preventive properties with respect to human or animal diseases, as well as any substance or composition which may be used in or administered to humans or animals, with a view to making a medical diagnosis or to restoring, correcting or modifying their physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action”. The drug contains an active ingredient (therapeutic or preventive substance) and excipients. The drug has undergone extensive pre-clinical and clinical testing, and its mechanism of action has been described. Unlike foodstuffs and dietary supplements, medicinal products are subject to marketing authorization (AMM), which is obtained after demonstrating that the benefit/risk balance is in favor of their use. Medicines are therefore highly regulated products whose therapeutic or preventive value has been scientifically assessed.

A dietary supplement is “a foodstuff whose purpose is to supplement a normal diet and which constitutes a concentrated source of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect”. It is therefore forbidden to speak of therapy or prevention! They are regulated separately by the DGCCRF. They are legally declared in the food supplements market, and must be accompanied by a description (purpose, composition, “not substitutable for diet” and conditions of use).

In the social network communication surrounding Rituel-Minceur and the product sheet, we distinguish several elements that are difficult to separate from the drug and/or dietary supplement:

- EGCG is referred to as an active ingredient. However, this term is used for the drug. This suggests that EGCG has a therapeutic and/or preventive effect on weight.

- The efficacy of Rituel-Minceur is described as “proven efficacy”, “recognized by clinical trials”. However, Rituel-Minceur has not been the subject of clinical trials (Clinical Trials database).

- Rituel-Minceur has instructions for use, but without at least a “dietary supplement” designation, Kusmi Tea cannot describe its use as a dietary supplement.

A 2g tea bag contains 64mg of EGCG, making 192mg of EGCG/day. To justify the use of EGCG, Kusmi Tea relies on 3 publications which are not clinical trials I to IV but patient follow-ups for clinical research (the clinical trial evaluates the efficacy and safety of the drug, clinical research aims to accumulate data to advance knowledge in human health). The 2008 study was based on 250mg green tea capsules (including 33.58mg EGCG), the 2016 study between 50.5-84.5 mg EGCG and the 2012 study 208 mg EGCG. What these studies have in common is that the galenic form is similar (green tea extract capsule), which is not the case with Rituel-Minceur, which is an infusion of green tea leaves and mate, enriched with EGCG from green tea extracts. This formulation should therefore be tested in a follow-up study of overweight/obese patients in order to compare the different data.

Let's summarize the various elements at our disposal to understand why Kusmi Tea's product positioning has led to this debate:

Health claims on green tea/green tea extracts/EGCG are authorized by the DGCCFR, provided that the wording is strictly transcribed, such as “fat oxidation” or “weight management aid” in the case of Rituel-Minceur. However, these claims are classified as “pending”, they have no legal value and will have to be verified by the EFSA to be validated.

“Tea for slimming” is a prohibited claim.  One of the ingredients, mate, is described as “rich in antioxidants”. Kusmi Tea has no right to say this on the product sheet or in their communications, as the words “mate - rich in antioxidants” are not on the list of pending health claims.

Rituel-Minceur is neither a dietary supplement nor a medicine. Consequently, Kusmi Tea does not have the right to describe EGCG as an active ingredient, which would imply that Rituel-Minceur has a therapeutic or preventive action. Kusmi Tea does not have the right to issue instructions for use as a supplement to enrich one's diet.

Finally, and this is the biggest problem, Rituel-Minceur has not been clinically tested, contrary to what Kusmi Tea claims. Its formulation differs from the EGCG studies cited by Kusmi Tea, so the link between the scientific evidence, the studies cited and the product is highly questionable. 

An even simpler conclusion: Kusmi Tea doesn't have the right to say that Rituel-Minceur makes you slim, and the elements they put forward to justify it are insufficient.

The aim of this article is not to single out X or Y tea stores. This article is also an opportunity to reflect on the relevance of the health claims “put on hold” by our Institutions. On the one hand, some claims may be written but may be unverified/under verification. One wonders about the scientific relevance of this approach, if not self-serving...