Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Category: Europe

  • TV Documentary Alleges Some French Cheeses Produced Without Fresh Milk

    French restaurateurs and food critics are calling for new food-labeling rules after a documentary airing on France 2 reported that some of the country’s food manufacturers have been using vegetable fat-based substitutes for fresh milk when producing cheese products. In “Artificial Cheese on Your Plate” (“Du Faux Fromage Dans Votre Assiette”), cheese producers are reportedly…

  • EFSA Guidance Addresses “Strengthened” GM Risk Assessments

    The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Scientific Committee has published guidance for renewing “applications of genetically modified [GM] food and feed authorized under Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003.” Describing “the data requirements for renewal applications, “ the guidance directs applicants seeking reauthorization of GM food and feed products to provide the following: (i) “a copy of…

  • EU Parliament to Vote on Draft Law to Ban Cloned Animals in Food

    The Environment and Agriculture committees of the European Parliament have approved a draft bill that would ban the cloning of all farm animals, their descendants and products derived from them. The legislation would prohibit both the cloning within the EU and the importation of cloned animals from other countries. “We are well aware that cloning…

  • EFSA Confirms Scientific Opinion on Acrylamide

    The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) has released its final scientific opinion on acrylamide, concluding that dietary exposure to the substance “potentially increases the risk of developing cancer for consumers in all age groups.” Naturally formed in starchy food products during high-temperature cooking, acrylamide is digested and distributed…

  • Food Standards Agency Publishes Five-Year Plan

    The U.K. Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued its Strategic Plan 2015-20 outlining a number of initiatives it plans to undertake with industry and other stakeholders over the next five years. Key activities include (i) implementing campaigns to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness caused by Campylobacter and Listeria infections; (ii) expanding capabilities of the…

  • EFSA Finalizes Caffeine Risk Assessment

    The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published its final caffeine risk assessment, concluding that “single doses of caffeine up to 200 mg” and “habitual caffeine consumption up to 400 mg per day does not give rise to safety concerns for non-pregnant adults.” Following a two-month consultation, the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and…

  • Irish Regulatory Agency Issues Guidance on Use of Food Marketing Terms

    The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued a guidance note for industry discussing general legal requirements for use of the descriptors “artisan/artisanal,” “farmhouse,” “traditional” and “natural.” “Marketing terms are designed to resonate with consumers and are an essential part of business development in the food industry,” said Wayne Anderson, FSAI Director of Food…

  • Allergenicity of GMOs Focus of EFSA Workshop

    The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a June 17, 2015, workshop in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss supplementary guidance for the allergenicity assessment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to the agency, the supplementary guidance aims to reflect technological and scientific advances as well as assessment methodologies developed since EFSA finalized the current guidance…