Alongside news the company saw sales grow 7% in the first quarter of 2010, Danone said it is withdrawing two applications submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for article 13.5 health claims related to its Activia and Actimel yogurts.

In a financial news press release, the company said: “Considering the lack of clarity and visibility regarding the application of the European Regulation on health and nutrition claims and the recent announcement of a new meeting (1st of June) organized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to clarify the criteria and rules of assessment, the Fresh Dairy division has decided to withdraw two applications (one application for Activia and one for Actimel that were filed under article 13.5) that were expected to receive an opinion from the EFSA in the coming weeks.”

“Danone hopes that the coming period will bring the necessary clarification and stabilization regarding the approval process that all stakeholders are waiting for,” the release continued. “Simultaneously, marketing communication continues to be adapted in the European countries.”

The company said its Activia and Danacol brands continued to deliver strong performances, while Actimel continued to show improvements. “The performance of the core range was very strong as a result of the successful relaunches in various countries.”

Overall, Danone experienced 7% sales growth in the first quarter of 2010, with dairy sales increasing 7.6%, driven by 12.5% volume growth.

Commenting on the results in the first quarter of 2010, Franck Riboud, chairman and CEO of Danone noted strong performances in the U.S. and Russion for its dairy division. “With a 10.8% growth of our volumes and 7% growth of our sales, our strong start in 2010 shows the result of the numerous initiatives we have undertaken in 2009: reset plans in our Dairy division, defense of the category in Waters, strong focus of our efforts in Baby Food, innovation in Medical Nutrition. While emerging countries are boosting our sales growth, all our geographies are progressing, with notably strong performances of our Dairy operations in the U.S. and Russia. Our performance in the first quarter, coupled with our leading market positions and brands, allow us to confirm our targets for 2010.”

All regions in the Fresh Dairy division delivered double-digit sales growth, except for Western Europe where sales were stable compared to the first quarter of 2009. In Western Europe, virtually all countries delivered positive volume growth, with particular encouraging sales performance in France and the UK, according to the company.