Our Publications

The Food Information Directive regulates food information throughout Europe. It modernises the current food information law. The legal changes partly pursue a new approach, since it is no longer just about packaging labelling, but regulations that are made for all information about food. Accordingly, the LMIV also contains provisions for previously unregulated areas such as internet sales, catering or in connection with transport services. This holistic approach also covers important topics such as the responsibility of food business operators for food information. The commentary explains the changes by way of example and in the context of the previous legal status, thus helping businesses to clearly identify relevant innovations. For the 2nd edition, the work has been completely revised, taking into account initial experience in the practical application of the law, in addition to taking into account all current interpretation aids for the application of the LMIV.

The task of the new version of the Prepackaging Ordinance of 18 November 2020 is to implement the framework requirements of market surveillance and to create clear and achievable conditions for all parties involved. In addition, for foods in packages, which also fall under the term pre-packaged food according to the EU Food Information Regulation (LMIV), clear demarcations must be created with regard to the respective applicable provisions. For newly developed products or for new forms of marketing (e.g. prebake products), existing regulations will also be adapted or new regulations developed in order to ensure equal treatment of businesses.
This is an indispensable support for companies in implementing the new regulations. In addition, the work serves courts, public prosecutors, lawyers and supervisory authorities in a specialised field where both legal and technical aspects have to be considered.

An indispensable guide for food manufacturers on the introduction and use of the Nutri-Score. The authors clearly show the legal requirements for the implementation of the label and provide valuable information on registration and licensing with Santé publique France. The complex calculation of the Nutri-Score - with its many exceptions - and the specific graphic requirements for its use on labels and in advertising are explained in detail and comprehensively using numerous examples.

Tradition in food. That’s were the FLN last exercised its swarm intelligence and published “How We Make Things At Home”.
When is a food ‘traditional’, ‘artisanal’, ‘farmhouse’ or ‘country-style’? What is ‘natural’, ‘authentic’ and ‘pure’? Find the answer between these book covers.

Novel foods require authorisation by the European Commission before being placed on the market. If a Novel Food is marketed without the required authorisation, this has significant economic and legal consequences.
The new Novel Food Regulation is applicable since 1 January 2018 and completely replaced Regulation (EC) No 258/97.
Manufacturers, distributors and authorities are confronted with a multitude of questions:
- When is a novel food subject to authorisation?
- What will be newly regulated, what will remain?
- What are the authorisation procedures?
- What transitional provisions apply?
This publication provides practitioners in the food industry, regulatory authorities and legal advisors with a quick but well-founded introduction to the topic and the new legal framework.

The safety of products is the central concern of food law and consumer protection. This applies to the entire product range from food to consumer goods and toys to cosmetics, textiles and jewellery.
A technically correct and legally secured safety and risk assessment is central for industry and trade as well as for official food and market monitoring. The book conveys the highly complex subject of safety and risk assessment in a short and concise manner using practical examples. An appendix of the relevant regulations (including Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002, Food and Feed Code, General Administrative Ordinance Rapid Alert System) rounds off the book.

The EU Food Information Regulation 1169/2011 (FIR) harmonizes European food information law to a full and comprehensive degree, covering nearly all aspects of commercial communication about food. However, in the name of subsidiarity, and in the interest of SMEs, the FIR leaves some areas for the national regulator to decide upon. This mainly concerns the labelling requirements of non-prepacked foods but also specific types or categories of foods, as well as a selected number of pre-packed foods. Member States have enacted laws, or are preparing to do so, to provide the necessary regulation for food markets within their jurisdiction. The decisions they have made in shaping their laws, and the balance they have struck between consumer information and the food business operators’ desire for flexibility, are the focus of this book. Specialized lawyers of the Food Lawyers’ Network have pooled their knowledge in this volume to provide an account of the measures taken, showing the level of discretion that national regulators retain in the area of food information, within what is a highly integrated regulatory environment of the European Union.

This book deals with the EU rapid alert system RAPEX. It is gaining increasing importance for consumer health protection and is an essential instrument of market surveillance. The author presents the development, the legal basis and a detailed overview of the notification procedure. Since both the entry into the RAPEX system and the subsequent publication on the European Commission's website (can) have serious consequences for the companies concerned, the book focuses on the presentation of national legal protection options.

In the food scandals of recent years, there have been repeated calls for improvements in food control. This book provides the necessary tools for the inspector on site. Furthermore, food business operators will also find a wealth of useful information and tips that will enable them to face future inspections with confidence.
In addition to indispensable legal basics for food inspectors and inspected businesses, there is a brief outline of the essential food law regulations, practice-oriented and with a special focus on the inspection situation.
The central chapters provide information about the structure of food control in Germany, about the substantive food law, i.e. both product and company-related food law requirements, and finally about the legal consequences of a complaint.
This is followed by examples of official orders, tips for inspectors as well as for entrepreneurs, and food law decisions that everyone involved in the process should be aware of . An overview of the relevant literature rounds off the work.

“Green claims” for food products are used to advertise specific efforts of Food Businesses to protect the environment, the well-being of animals, and enhance fair trade. Green labelling has emerged in many countries, even though in most countries national legislation or specific regulations for such claims are still missing. However, green claims on food products constitute food information and have to comply with the general food law principle not to mislead the consumer.
This synopsis compiles country reports from Members of the Food Lawyers Network Worldwide on the legal framework for “green labelling” in their own country and in addition gathers some examples and experiences of initiatives used by the food industry on how to highlight ecological achievements.

Consumer demand for foods with specific health benefits has increased the economic importance of developing, producing and marketing functional food. However, within the European Union, this area of food law is harmonized to only to a minor extent. Therefore, the economic operators face the difficulty of having to comply with national laws that might differ substantially from one Member State to another. This synopsis is aimed at facilitating the first approach to the legal framework of functional food within the European Union and selected other countries.

The law on consumer information is developing in a particularly dynamic way, as it is politically occupied and under intense media scrutiny. After the Environmental Information Act and the Freedom of Information Acts, the German legislator opened a new chapter for the area of consumer information in 2008 with the Consumer Information Act (VIG) and created a special regulation, which has now been fundamentally changed with the "Act to Amend the Right to Consumer Information" after two years of evaluation. The aim of the amendments is to facilitate the provision of information to consumers and the media, whereby the VIG now applies beyond the area of food to all technical consumer products within the meaning of the Product Safety Act.
In addition, special provisions were created outside the VIG that oblige authorities to publicly report certain violations of the law without exception and without exercising discretion. However, this is not the end of the development: future regulatory projects such as the so-called "hygiene traffic light" or the so-called "control barometer" for food businesses - i.e. a traffic light colour coding of the hygiene situation from the official point of view - are intended to visualise the official control status of a business for consumers "at first glance".
In addition, rapid alert systems for products on the market and official, semi-official and private internet portals flank the change from classic administrative activity by decree to "administration through information".
All these developments and new regulations raise a multitude of questions for all those involved in the "information triangle", i.e. public authorities, business enterprises and consumers. Business enterprises are interested in an effective protection of business interests, public authorities in acting in conformity with the law. Inquiring third parties, e.g. journalists or lobbyists, want to obtain the widest possible information about companies as quickly as possible.
This work contains a complete commentary on the new VIG and the newly designed § 40 LFGB, as well as the relevant EU legal requirements in Regulation (EC) No. 178/2001 and Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004. In addition, the relevant press law regulations and the existing or emerging concepts for the publication of control results of food monitoring in the hygiene sector are explained.