In a trademark battle between olive oil producers Sovena and Mueloliva, the European Court has quashed a decision by the EU Intellectual Property Office, allowing Sovena to use its Fontoliva brand.
Fortified foods and supplements designed for infants could have significantly less – or more – actual vitamin D than the amounts labelled, however most products do fall within acceptable EU ranges, say Dutch researchers.
The UK's Department for food, the environment and rural affairs (DEFRA) has updated guidance on food product naming to make the complex and potentially hazardous field more user-friendly for manufacturers.
A Danish consumer rights organisation has made wide-ranging formal complaints against several food producers, including Nestlé and Kellogg’s, accusing them of misleading product labelling.
Germany’s agriculture minister Christian Schmidt has weighed in on the debate surrounding plant-based alternatives using meat names, calling them "completely misleading" - but the European Commission seems reluctant to act.
Criminals operating in the UK’s food chain are “home grown” and unlikely to be involved in organised crime, according to the head of the country’s food crime unit (FCU).
The European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA) is lobbying for two different solutions to the EU caffeine claim hold up, one of which could see use of the claims limited to sports supplements only.
An independent think tank, IPES, has been set up to advise the EU and work towards creating a common food policy that would create a sustainable, healthy and profitable food system – a ‘plan B’ to the failures of the current framework.
A coalition of over 450 civil society groups from Europe and Canada has signed an open letter pleading legislators to vote against the deal, fearing it will erode public power over the dietary and environmental impact of the food industry.
Netherlands, the UK and Belgium have reported new cases in the first two weeks of December as part of the ongoing EU-wide Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs.
The year ahead will present UK food companies with a range of major legal challenges over and above the fallout from Brexit, according to leading food industry lawyer Peter Cusick.
Nestlé has failed in proving to the General Court of the EU that its KitKat three-dimensional shape has the “distinctive character” to merit a trademark within the EU.
Eight CEOs of the leading seafood companies globally, in both wild capture and aquaculture, along with fish feed players have signed a major ocean sustainability pledge.
A coalition of major food industry bodies have made a pact with the Norwegian government to help improve public health by reducing high fat, sugary and salty foods (HFFS).
Agri-food giant Olam has defended its palm oil operations against accusations they are a 'black box' of secrecy that funnels palm oil linked to deforestation from rogue traders to global brands like Unilever and Nestlé.
Major food industry bodies have written to the UK government demanding priority for EU workers after Brexit, saying ‘unambiguous reassurance’ should be given for the right to remain.
Industry has given its support to a new ruling by the UK's Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) on marketing junk food to children that will increase restrictions to cover non-broadcast media, including print, cinema and online social media.
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the European Commission to reduce legal limits or ban nitrites in meat products due to the link with cancer, and to support research into alternatives.
The food industry should not be pilloried for making food safe, affordable and enjoyable, according to the chairman of food consultancy Zenith International.
'Significant players have acted to accelerate reformulation; others need to be more ambitious and move faster'
The UK government is pushing ahead with its soft drinks industry levy, saying that the impending legislation is already encouraging producers to reformulate their drinks.
'Climate smart' pulses are essential to global food security by delivering high-nutrition protein to people and critical nutrients to soil, said the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on World Soil Day.
France is the top ranking country for tackling food waste and nutritional challenges while Germany is ranked number one for sustainable agriculture, according to a 25-nation food sustainability index by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN).
The UK’s food and drink industry might not be as fiercely opposed to a tax on sugary beverages as industry representatives claim, according to a new survey.
Both the pro-sugar tax campaign groups and anti-tax lobbyists are using all the tricks in the book to get their message across. But who will the UK government listen to?
Demand for organic food in Europe is booming but suppliers are struggling to match it, and there are worries that the Commission's proposal to decertify organic food that contains traces of unauthorised pesticides could worsen the situation.
An EU Court ruling, which states nutrition information on multipack products must also appear on each individual item, contradicts EU law, a food law expert has said.
The UK’s vote to withdraw from the European Union has prompted more requests from French companies to export to the UK, says the French Trade Commission.
A coalition of European health organisations is campaigning for later watershed times and restricted product placement for adverts and television marketing unhealthy food and alcohol.
A global carbon price is “unlikely” to cause major shifts in consumption patterns between foods, but supply chains could be decarbonised if more companies looked to incentivise reductions upstream, according to a new analysis.
Amnesty International’s report is another dent in the reputation of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as three of the suppliers on Wilmar's operations were RSPO-certified.
Risk assessment, early warning for emerging hazards and official controls and inspections are areas where the EU legislative framework needs to be strengthened to deal with future issues, according to a report.
Some foods have a bigger carbon footprint than others. Cue the need for a carbon label so consumers can choose accordingly? Perhaps not - as Tesco and PepsiCo have found out.
The European Commission has launched a multistakeholder platform to prevent food waste. Rethinking our food systems is a "moral obligation", said commissioner for health and food safety Vytenis Andriukaitis.
The battle over plant-based terminology has moved into the meat arena with two Italian MEPs calling for laws to prevent vegetarian alternatives from using names such as prosciutto and mortadella.
In 2013, the Finnish government set itself the target of converting one fifth of its arable cultivated land to organic, but it is lagging behind where other EU countries are making strides. Why is this and what needs to be done?
Dutch consumer association, Consumentenbond, is fighting for tougher regulations on products claiming to be whole-grain as it says manufacturers are deliberately misleading consumers in their labelling.
Denmark unveiled its voluntary logo for animal welfare last month and Germany looks set to launch its own. But should a high standard of welfare not be the legal minimum rather than a premium product for high-end shoppers?
Acrylamide levels in Europe are still dangerously high and relying on industry goodwill to lower them is destined to fail, says an NGO following analysis of previously unseen data released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
A coalition of food industry giants pledged to “redouble their efforts” in combating carbon emissions, carbon dioxide and deforestation, at the COP22 meeting in Morocco last week.
!['There are too many barriers for entry [into the food sector].' ©iStock/AndrePopov](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/5/1/0/7/1167015-1-eng-GB/Little-chance-of-post-Brexit-food-fraud-frenzy.jpg)
!['The FSI is a tool for policymakers and experts to orient their action [...] and for the public to conscientiously adjust their behavior for the food of our health and our planet,' says the report. © iStock](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/7/4/5/4/2814547-1-eng-GB/France-tops-global-food-sustainability-index.jpg)
![“It’s time the FDF and other trade bodies fully engage with the government’s Childhood Obesity Plan [which includes the tax on sugary drinks].” ©iStock/piotr_malczyk](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/5/9/1/8/2438195-1-eng-GB/Sugar-tax-divides-the-industry-campaigners-claim.jpg)
!['There are several incorrectly qualified and labelled products [because] the supervisory authorities do not have specific and adequate measures to regulate this kind of behaviour,' said de Castro. © iStock/Kuvona](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/3/0/2/3/3373203-1-eng-GB/MEPs-oppose-plant-based-alternatives-using-meat-terms.jpg)
!['The [Commission's] proposal in its current form also excludes all imports which represent a significant part of the market,' said Nuša Urbančič at Changing Markets. © iStock/Zerbor](/var/wrbm_gb_food_pharma/storage/images/_aliases/news_teaser_medium/9/7/4/7/1957479-1-eng-GB/Acrylamide-levels-in-Europe-are-dangerously-high-says-NGO.jpg)
