There are two types of claim that can be made, he said: health claims, whereby consumers are told that a product can protect or maintain their health; and medicinal claims, that a product can cure, treat or prevent a particular ailment. The former is allowed, the latter is not.

'We can only make substantiated health claims,' said Lunny, 'and because there is no official legislation, the only way we can do this is through the UK Joint Health Claims Initiative (JHCI), a group that has established a code of practice for making claims. Although the JHCI has an expert committee, even claims proven by it cannot be used legally.

'For instance, it has been scientifically substantiated that eating fruit and vegetables may reduce the risk of stomach cancer. But that claim cannot be made in-store.' Putting this anomaly into a fuller context, Lunny added: 'The department of health is doing a fantastic job putting fruit into schools around the country. Does it understand the problems I and others have with one of the government's other departments when trying to promote that fruit?'

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