Food & Drink in the EU

Latest news on food policies in the European Union.

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EU drops mooted ban on olive oil in jugs in restaurants — 23 May 2013, 16:06 CET

The European Commission withdrew on Thursday a planned ban on restaurants serving olive oil in jugs on diners' tables pending consultations with the industry and consumers.

EU raids sugar companies in collusion probe — 16 May 2013, 12:30 CET

The European Commission said on Thursday it had carried out surprise inspections on several sugar companies on concerns they may have breached anti-trust rules.

Easier to import giraffes under new EU rules — 07 May 2013, 15:53 CET

New EU rules agreed Tuesday make it easier to import elephants, giraffes, rhinos and all other such non-domestic hoofed animals.

Smarter rules for safer food — 06 May 2013, 22:57 CET

The European Commission has adopted a package of measures to strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards for the whole agri-food chain. Food safety is essential to ensure consumers' confidence and sustainability of food production. The Commission says the package of measures provides a modernised and simplified, more risked-based approach to the protection of health and more efficient control tools to ensure the effective application of the rules guiding the operation of the food chain. The package is a response to calls for better simplification of legislation and smarter regulation thus reducing administrative burden for operators and simplifying the regulatory environment. Special consideration is given to the impact of this legislation on SMEs and micro enterprises which are exempted from the most costly and burdensome elements in the legislation. The current body of EU legislation covering the food chain consists of almost 70 pieces of legislation. Today's package of reform will cut this down to 5 pieces of legislation and will also reduce the red-tape on processes and procedures for farmers, breeders and food business operators (producers, processors and distributors) to make it easier for them to carry out their profession.

EU sets out post-horsemeat food standards revamp — 07 May 2013, 10:57 CET

The European Commission set out Monday what it said would be a revolution in food safety from farm to fork, drawn up in response to the scandal of horse meat sold as beef.

Greece, Italy in trouble for mistreating hens — 26 April 2013, 10:53 CET

The European Commission on Thursday referred Greece and Italy to the European Court of Justice for failing to improve the living conditions of egg-laying hens kept in cramped cages.

European test results on horse DNA and Phenylbutazone — 16 April 2013, 17:59 CET

Coordinated EU-wide testing for horse meat DNA and phenylbutazone, requested, and co-financed, by the European Commission in the wake of the horse meat scandal, reveal that less than 5 % of the tested products had horse DNA and that about 0.5 % of the equine carcasses tested were found to be contaminated with bute.

Q&A on horsemeat — 16 April 2013, 17:54 CET

The horsemeat scandal has been making headline news over the last few weeks. Europe's food processing industry is facing a crisis of consumer confidence. The European Commission together with Member States competent authorities and EUROPOL have been working closely to get to the bottom of how horsemeat was found to be in food products labelled as 100% beef.

EU tests show 1 in 20 beef meals tainted with horse — 16 April 2013, 19:40 CET

Thousands of DNA tests on European beef products have revealed extensive food fraud across the European Union, with almost one in 20 meals marketed as beef likely to be tainted with horse.

Italy asks EU to halt GM maize cultivation — 04 April 2013, 18:06 CET

The Italian government has asked the European Commission not to renew authorisation of a key genetically-modified corn, according to a letter seen by AFP on Thursday.

Cypriot aid workers reeling at donations to help hungry — 03 April 2013, 18:17 CET

Organisers of a charity concert in Cyprus were struggling on Tuesday to deal with the volume of donations of food and other goods made to help those worst hit by the country's financial crisis.

US says EU rules on biotech crops 'unnecessary' — 02 April 2013, 14:30 CET

The United States on Monday criticized "unnecessary" European Union rules against genetically modified US crop imports as it prepares to enter free-trade talks with the EU.

US criticizes EU restrictions on wine labels — 02 April 2013, 14:25 CET

The United States on Monday criticized the European Union's restrictions on wine labeling, saying they hinder US wine exports to the 27-nation bloc.

Value of production of agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wines and spirits protected by a geographical indication (GI) — 04 March 2013, 17:15 CET

This study, financed by the European Commission, was carried out by AND International. The conclusions, recommendations and opinions presented in this report reflect the opinion of the consultant and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Commission.

Horsemeat scandal shows need for stiffer sanctions: EU — 28 February 2013, 18:23 CET

Brussels plans stiffer sanctions against food fraud following the discovery of mislabelled ready made meals across Europe containing horse meat instead of beef, says the Health Commissioner.

EU has open mind on origin labelling as members push for horsemeat action — 25 February 2013, 22:17 CET

The European Commission says it has an open mind when it comes to place of origin labels on prepared foods as several Member States pushed for the measure to help combat the horse meat for beef scandal.

EU approves testing plan to halt horsemeat scandal — 16 February 2013, 13:29 CET

The European Union has agreed the immediate launch of tests for horse DNA in meat products, seeking to reassure nervous consumers that their food is safe and to end the horse meat scandal spreading across Europe.

No need to panic over horsemeat scandal: Commissioner — 15 February 2013, 13:13 CET

The EU's top health official on Friday said there was no need to panic over a Europe-wide horse meat scandal, saying it was a labelling rather than a health issue.

Brussels calls for DNA tests across EU on beef products — 13 February 2013, 22:03 CET

The European Commission on Wednesday said it would call on all European Union states to carry out DNA tests on beef products to check the presence of horse meat.

Britain, Ireland want DNA testing after horsemeat fraud — 13 February 2013, 18:54 CET

Ministers from Britain and Ireland called Wednesday for DNA checks on processed foods as part of a rapid EU response to the horse meat scandal widening across Europe.

EU ministers to meet on horsemeat crisis — 13 February 2013, 12:57 CET

European Union farm ministers hold crisis talks in Brussels on Wednesday to agree a response to a scandal over mislabelled frozen meat products which is spreading across Europe.

EU says too early to impose meat labelling — 13 February 2013, 10:41 CET

The European Commission says it is too early to require labelling on meat used in processed foods despite growing uproar over horse meat being passed off as beef in frozen hamburgers and lasagne.

Europe's horsemeat scandal 'not a food safety issue': Brussels — 12 February 2013, 14:56 CET

The European Commission said Monday that Europe's horse meat scandal appeared at this stage to be a labelling problem and definitely not a question of food safety.

Britain rules out 'panic' EU meat ban — 10 February 2013, 18:32 CET

Britain's food minister ruled out Sunday imposing a ban on importing meat from EU countries due to the horse meat scandal unless there was a threat to human health.

Senior British MP calls for EU meat ban — 10 February 2013, 13:22 CET

The head of the British parliament's food affairs scrutiny panel on Sunday called for a ban on importing meat from EU countries until the horse meat scandal is resolved.