Food Law News - 2015
For current news, see Food Law News. For other years, see: Food Law News - Index
- UK: 31 December 2015 ENFORCEMENT / ADDITIVES - Another Prosecution for the use of Rhodamine B in Food
- EU: 23 December 2015 ALCOHOL - The Scottish legislation introducing a minimum price per unit of alcohol is contrary to EU law if less restrictive tax measures can be introduced
- EU: 17 December 2015 NATURAL MINERAL WATERS - Judgment in Case C-157/14: The sodium content of natural mineral waters must be calculated on the basis not only of sodium chloride but also of sodium bicarbonate
- EU: 16 December 2015 GMOs - MEPs object to new GM maize authorisation and invasive species list
- EU: 15 December 2015 HONEY – Quality of imported honey: EU Council discussions
- INT: 15 December 2015 CODEX – Codex Alimentarius: EU Council discussions
- EU: 14 December 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Food hygiene - Testing of arsenic, heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons: Council discussions
- EU: 14 December 2015 HYGIENE - Derogations for transport of liquid oils and fats by sea: Council discussions
- EU: 14 December 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- UK: 10 December 2015 ENFORCEMENT - FSA focused audit programme on the assessment of local authority (LA) delivery of official controls in milk and dairy products establishments in England, Wales and Scotland 2014/2015
- EU: 10 December 2015 FLAVOURINGS - Food flavourings: Maximum levels of tropane alkaloids – Council discussions
- INT: 6 December 2015 CODEX - Draft standard for processed cheese meeting - Montevideo
- EU: 4 December 2015 GMOs - Commission authorises 2 GMOs for food/ feed uses
- EU: 4 December 2015 LABELLING / FISH - Commission publishes results of control plan on labelling of fishery products
- INT: 3 December 2015 FOOD SAFETY - WHO's first ever global estimates of foodborne diseases find children under 5 account for almost one third of deaths
- EU: 3 December 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- EU: 3 December 2015 LABELLING - Commission report concludes that EU action is needed to set legal limits on trans fats
- EU: 1 December 2015 GM FOOD - Environment MEPs oppose new GM maize authorization
- EU: 30 November 2015 ADDITIVES - Authorisation of a food flavour and a food additive: Council discussions
- EU: 30 November 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- EU: 26 November 2015 DIETARY FOODS - FAQ: foods for special medical purposes
- EU: 26 November 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- INT: 23 - 27 November 2015 CODEX – Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (37th Session)
- EU: 23 November 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- UK: 20 November 2015 LEGISLATION - Food and Feed Law: legislation review (July to September 2015)
- UK: 19 November 2015 HYGIENE - Enforcement of breaches in relation to ‘use by’ dates
- EU: 16 November 2015 NOVEL FOODS - New novel food Regulation has been agreed today: Questions and Answers: New Regulation on Novel Food
- EU: 16 November 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis welcomes the political agreement on novel food
- EU: 16 November 2015 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on health claims, 9th November 2015
- INT: 9 – 13 November 2015 CODEX – Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (47th Session)
- EU: 11 November 2015 NOVEL FOODS - New rules on novel foods get Council's approval
- UK: 11 November 2015 ENFORCEMENT - FSA publishes local authority food law enforcement information
- EU: 10 November 2015 CASEINS - Council adopts Directive on caseins intended for human consumption
- INT: 6 November 2015 TBT COMMITTEE - Technical Barriers to Trade: Formal Meeting - Standards committee discusses tyres, toy safety and food
- UK: 3 November 2015 ENFORCMENT - New sentencing guidelines introduced for corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety
- UK: 3 November 2015 ENFORCEMENT - Food law prosecutions database published
- INT: 2 November 2015 FAO / WTO - Food safety and trade should improve nutrition and boost development: Small-scale producers in developing countries must access world markets says WTO's Azevêdo
- INT: 2 November 2015 WTO/ FAO - WTO and FAO to collaborate on trade and food safety
- EU: 30 October 2015 CONTACT MATERIALS - October 2015 update on active and intelligent materials
- EU: 28 October 2015 NOVEL FOODS – Novel foods: simpler approval rules to boost food innovation
- EU: 28 October 2015 GM FOOD - Parliament rejects national GMO bans proposal
- EU: 26 October 2015 OFFICIAL CONTROL - Official control in the food chain - Adoption of the Council position
- INT: 19 - 24 October 2015 CODEX – Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products (34th Session)
- EU: 22 October 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Recast of contaminants legislation, Regulation 1881/2006
- EU: 22 October 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Speeding up authorisation of novel foods: European Parliament provide background information
- EU: 22 October 2015 FLAVOURINGS - Removal of a flavouring substance from the list of approved substances: Council discussions
- EU: 22 October 2015 RESIDUES - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- EU: 22 October 2015 HYGIENE - Live bivalve molluscs - Controls and microbiological criteria: Council discussions
- EU: 22 October 2015 PARNUTS - Specialised nutrition: Council discussion on need for Commission to report on PARNUTS developments
- EU: 20 October 2015 BEEF - European beef producers resume exports to Canada
- UK: 20 October 2015 MILK / HYGIENE - FSA statement about Barton Farm Dairy
- UK: 16 October 2015 LABELLING / COMPOSITION - Nutrition legislation information sources
- UK: 16 October 2015 ENFORCEMENT - 2014 annual report on UK Multi-Annual National Control Plan published
- EU: 13 October 2015 GM FOOD - Environment MEPs oppose national GMO import bans proposal
- EU: 13 October 2015 ORGANIC FOOD – Parliament Discussions: boosting EU production and enhancing consumer trust
- INT: 5- 9 October 2015 CODEX – Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (19th Session)
- EU: 8 October 2015 CLAIMS - Commission publishes Roadmap to review the Nutrition and Health Claims legislation
- UK: 7 October 2015 ENFORCEMENT – Revised Food Law Practice Guidance 2015 published by the FSA
- UK: 2 October 2015 WATER - Consultation on proposed ‘The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2016’
- UK: 24 September 2015 ENFORCEMENT / SCOTLAND - New Food Crime Unit to be established for Scotland
- UK: 22 September 2015 ENFORCMENT - Northern Ireland's eighth food surveillance sampling report published
- UK: 21 September 2015 LABELLING - New call for food labels to meet growing consumer demand for local produce: 4 in 5 people think we should support our local food producers
- INT: 14–18 September 2015 CODEX - Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (2nd Session)
- EU: 18 September 2015 ADDITIVES / CLAIMS / CONTAMINANTS – Council discussion on proposed Commission legislation covering food additives, health claims on foods and maximum levels for contaminants in foods
- EU: 18 September 2015 TRADE / GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS - EU and Iceland strike deal to protect Geographical Indications and enhance trade for agricultural and food products
- EU: 14 September 2015 FOOD ADDITIVES – Discussions in Council concerning amendments to food additive controls
- UK: 10 September 2015 HYGIENE / MEAT – Food Standards Scotland (FSS) statement on rare burgers
- UK: 9 September 2015 HYGIENE / MEAT - FSA Board decision on rare burgers
- EU: 8 September 2015 CLONING - EP wants animal cloning ban extended to offspring and imports
- EU: 3 September 2015 GM FOOD - Agriculture committee opposes national bans on Imports of GM food and feed
- EU: 2 September 2015 MEAT - Statement by EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Andriukaitis, Trade Commissioner Malmström and Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Hogan on the opening of the US market for imports of meat and meat products from Lithuania
- UK: 28 August 2015 HYGIENE - Publication of Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) update report for Welsh Government
- UK: 3 August 2015 MEAT HYGIENE - Revised Meat Industry Guide published
- UK: 29 July 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Information wanted on edible insects
- EU: 23 July 2015 FLAVOURINGS - Flavouring substance considered a safety concern: EFSA opionion published
- EU: 20 July 2015 CLAIMS - EFSA Public consultation: health claims guidance
- UK: 17 July 2015 LEGISLATION - Food and Feed Law: legislation review (April to June 2015)
- EU: 16 July 2015 GMOs - GMO imports: MEPs object to draft law allowing national bans, call for plan B
- EU: 16 July 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Nanomaterial definition: final European Commission report
- UK: 15 July 2015 MILK - FSA Board agrees restrictions on raw milk should remain
- EU: 13 July 2015 ADDITIVES - Authorisation of certain colours in dried potato granules and flakes: Council discussions
- EU: 13 July 2015 GMOs - Restriction of use of genetically modified food and feed: Council discussions
- INT: 6-11 July 2015 CODEX – Items discussed at the 38th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
- UK: 3 July 2015 HORTICULTURAL MARKETING - North London shopkeeper fined for rotten fruit and vegetables offences: HMI investigation finds quality defects and labelling offences in fruit and veg
- UK: 3 July 2015 MEAT HYGIENE - FSA wins judicial review over vet's decision
- EU: 30 June 2015 RASFF - Record interventions of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed to fight health risks
- EU: 25 June 2015 HEALTH CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on health claims, 8th June 2015
- EU: 25 June 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Food safety MEPs back deal with Council
- EU: 19 June 2015 ADDITIVES – Council discussions: Approval of silicon dioxide as food additive in extracts of rosemary
- EU: 17 June 2015 CLONING - Ban not just animal cloning, but cloned food, feed and imports too, say MEPs
- EU: 10 June 2015 NOVEL FOODS - Council presents final compromise text
- UK: 8 June 2015 ENFORCEMENT - Food Law Prosecution Outcomes: creation of an FSA database
- UK: 4 June 2015 INCIDENTS - FSA Annual Report of Incidents 2014 published
- EU: 4 June 2015 CONTAMINANTS – EFSA Opinion: Acrylamide in food is a public health concern
- EU: 4 June 2015 LABELLING - Court Judgement: The labelling of a foodstuff must not mislead the consumer by giving the impression that a particular ingredient is present, even though it is not in fact present
- UK: 4 June 2015 LEGISLATION - Food and Feed Law: A review of developments in food and feed law and related scientific and regulatory issues that affect the UK (January 2015-March 2015)
- UK: 3 June 2015 ADMINISTRATION - FSA publishes Strategic Plan for food we can trust
- EU: 28 May 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - Maximum residue levels – Council discussions
- UK: 28 May 2015 HYGIENE - Campylobacter survey: cumulative results from the full 12 months (Q1 - Q4)
- UK: 20 May 2015 ENFORCEMENT - Bradford shopkeeper fined for selling rotten fruit and vegetables: Sentence follows an investigation by the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate
- EU: 20 May 2015 LABELLING - Reports explore potential impact of new origin labelling for certain foods
- UK: 18 May 2015 ADDITIVES - Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) used as a carrier in colouring pens for food decoration
- EU: 12 May 2015 NOVEL FOODS - EU talks go on: Council and Parliament discuss proposed legislation
- UK: 12 May 2015 ENFORCEMENT - FSA welcomes two prosecutions
- EU: 12 May 2015 LABELLING – Traditional Products: Court ruling - The dairy spread known as ‘pomazánkové máslo’ may not be registered as a traditional speciality guaranteed
- EU: 11 May 2015 FLAVORUINGS - Removal of flavourings from EU list – Council Discussions
- EU: 11 May 2015 CLAIMS - Health claims on foods – Council Discussions
- EU: 11 May 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Maximum levels for contaminants in foodstuffs – Council Discussions
- EU: 29 April 2015 LABELLING - Alcoholic drinks should state calorie content, say MEPs
- EU: 24 April 2015 GMOs - Commission authorises 17 GMOs for food/feed uses and 2 GM carnations
- UK: 27 April 2015 LEGISLATION - Food and Feed Law: legislation review: A review of changes in food and feed legislation affecting the UK (October 2014-December 2014)
- EU: 22 April 2015 GMOs - More freedom for Member States to decide on the GMOs use for food and feed
- EU: 20 April 2015 LABELLING - Indication of the country of origin for certain food products
- EU: 20 April 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - Maximum residue levels
- EU: 15 April 2015 HEALTH CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on health claims, 31 March 2015
- EU: 14 April 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Data on chemicals in food: an annual overview for the general public
- UK: 7 April, 2015 ENFORCEMENT - Publication of the Revised Food Law Code of Practice (England)
- UK: 1 April 2015 SCOTLAND - Food Standards Scotland launches as poll reveals Scotland's food priorities and concerns
- EU: 1 April 2015 MEAT / LABELLING - New rules on labelling the origin of fresh meat apply
- INT: 26 and 27 March 2015 SPS COMMITTEE – SPS Formal Meeting: Food safety body agrees to e-working group “time out” on definition of private standards
- UK: 27 March 2015 ENFORCEMENT - Extension to the UK Multi-Annual National Control Plan published
- UK: 25 March 2015 HYGIENE – Food Hygiene Rating Scheme evaluation findings published
- UK: 23 March 2015 MEAT - FSA welcomes horse meat sentencing
- INT: 18 March 2015 WTO SPS - New 5-year plan approved for assistance in food safety, animal and plant health
- EU: 17 March 2015 ADDITIVES - Food additives: Council discussions on amendments
- EU: 16 March 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- EU: 16 March 2015 ORGANIC - Organic farming: Council discussions regarding updating legislative controls
- EU: 12 March 2015 CONTAMINANTS - Over 97% of foods in EU contain pesticide residues within legal limits
- UK: 9 March 2015 HYGIENE - Official Controls Charges in Approved Meat Premises: Consultation on a Proposal for a New Discount System
- EU: 5 March 2015 ADDITIVES / OILS – Council discussions: Food additive amendment / Analysis method for erucic acid
- UK: 4 March 2015 FRAUD - Report on food authenticity testing and method standardisation: An independent report, by the Authenticity Methods Working Group, addressing method standardisation in food authenticity testing
- EU: 3 March 2015 FLAVORUINGS / CONTAMINANTS - Flavouring - Non dioxin-like PCBs: Council discussion
- EU: 3 March 2015 PESTICIDES - Pesticides - maximum residue levels: Council discussions
- EU: 2 March 2015 GMOs - New GMO rules get final Council approval
- EU: 25 February 2015 DIETARY FOODS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on Foods for Specific Groups, 18 February 2015
- EU: 19 February 2015 SPECIAL DIETARY FOODS - Request for comments on young-child formulae working document
- UK: 16 February 2015 ALLERGENS - Undeclared almond incident update
- INT: 13 February 2015 CODEX - Committee on Fats and Oils: Report of 23rd Session
- UK: 12 February 2015 ENFORCEMENT - FSA Focus on Enforcement update
- EU: 11 February 2015 SPECIAL DIETARY FOODS - Working Documents: Food Intended for Infants and Young Children, Food for Special Medical Purposes and Total Diet Replacement for Weight Control
- EU: 11 February 2015 HYGIENE - The General Court confirms that the biological method of detection of marine biotoxins in live bivalve molluscs may be replaced by a chemical method
- EU: 11 February 2015 LABELLING - MEPs call for country of origin labelling of meat in processed foods
- UK: 9 February 2015 MEAT - FSA lamb takeaway survey – results published
- EU: 9 February 2015 CLAIMS - EFSA is giving stakeholders and other interested parties the opportunity to comment on the draft update of its guidance for health claims related to gut and immune function
- EU: 6 February 2015 CONTAMINANTS - European Commission proposed maximum limits for arsenic in foods for infants and young children: Update from European Commission expert committee of the 8 January 2015
- EU: 6 February 2015 OFFICIAL CONTROLS - Ten years of traceability online in Europe to have safer food
- EU: 31 January 2015 CONTAMINANTS / ADDITIVES / ENZYMES / FOOD CONTACT MATERIALS / RADIATION - FSA Food Safety Policy Update - January 2015
- UK: 31 January 2015 ALLERGENS - Bart Ground Cumin recalled
- INT: 30 January 2015 CODEX – Coordinating Committee for Africa: Report of 21st Session
- EU: 29 January 2015 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on health claims
- EU: 26 January 2015 SUPPLEMENTS/CLAIMS - Council Discussions on Food Supplements and Health Claims
- UK: 22 January 2015 SCOTLAND - Food Standards Scotland Board appointed
- EU: 21 January 2015 LABELLING - Food safety MEPs call for country of origin labelling of meat in processed foods
- UK: 13 January 2015 SCOTLAND – Food (Scotland) Act 2015 receives Royal Assent
- EU: 13 January 2015 GMOs - Parliament backs GMO opt-out for EU member states
- EU: 13 January 2015 MILK - Raw drinking milk: what are the risks?
- EU: 7 January 2015 US TRADE DEAL - European Commission publishes TTIP legal texts as part of transparency initiative
- EU: 5 January 2015 BEEF - Re-opening of the US market for imports of EU beef from January 2015 - Statement by EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan