How the European Court of Justice’s judgement on Case 19/15i single-handedly changed the EU’s food information policy

Abstract

The European Court of Justice is asked by the German courts to determine if the European Union’s legal framework on the use of nutrition and health claims in the advertising of food products applies to commercial communication that is directly forwarded by food business operators to health professionals. According to this ruling, because these professionals are not in a position to review all upcoming scientific studies and because of the complexity of the claims, they need to be protected from misleading claims as much as the average consumer. It is the author’s view that this Judgment opens the door for the European Commission to define clear rules on how food businesses can approach health professionals when advertising their products.

Keywords

• food information
• food safety
• misleading claims
• public health
• Regulation 1924/2006
• health claims
• nutrition claims
• health professionals