Food & Drink in the EU

Latest news on food policies in the European Union.

Kitkat protected status in doubt in EU Court's opinion — 19 April 2018, 20:53 CET

The future of the three-dimensional shape of Nestle's ‘Kit Kat 4 fingers’ chocolate as an EU trade mark is in doubt following Thursday's opinion of the Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice.

Green light for new EU rules on organic food — 19 April 2018, 23:25 CET

Euro-MPs gave the green light Thursday to a new law on organic food production and labelling, with a view to boosting organic production and ensuring that only high-quality organic food is sold in the EU.

Food safety: EU acts to make food studies more reliable — 12 April 2018, 23:51 CET

Responding to public concern in the form of a 'European Citizens' Initiative', the EU Commission presented Wednesday a proposal to improve the transparency of scientific studies in the area of food safety.

Brussels looks to clamp down on unfair food trading practices — 17 April 2018, 15:47 CET

The EU Commission put forward proposals Thursday to ban the most damaging unfair trade practices in the food supply chain, with a view to ensuring fairer treat­ment for smaller food and farming businesses.

Food supply chain: EU targets unfair trading practices — 12 April 2018, 18:43 CET

The Commission is targeting the most damaging unfair trade practices to grant farmers and small and medium sized businesses greater certainty and less need to manage risks over which they have little or no control.

Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality — 16 March 2018, 00:26 CET

The European Commission launched on 13 March a Knowledge Centre for Food Fraud and Quality, operated by the Joint Research Centre. The Knowledge Centre, a network made up of experts in and outside the Commission, will support EU policy-makers and national authorities by providing access to, and sharing up-to-date scientific knowledge on food fraud and food quality issues.

MEPs set out plan to save Europe's bees — 01 March 2018, 23:41 CET

The EU needs a long-term strategy to rebuild the bee population, the EU Parliament said Thursday calling for more investment in protecting bee health, fighting honey adulteration and supporting beekeepers.

EU auditors to scrutinise organic food checks — 22 February 2018, 13:20 CET

The EU Court of Auditors is set to conduct an audit of checks on Europe's organic food, to look at the control system governing the production, processing, distribution and import of organic products.

Dual quality food testing procedure ready in April — 06 February 2018, 18:16 CET

The common testing methodology for dual quality of food, developed by the EU's Joint-Research Centre, is to be ready in April, European Commissioner Vera Jourova announced on Friday.

Safer drinking water for Europeans — 01 February 2018, 22:23 CET

Revised European legislation proposed by the European Commission will improve the quality of drinking water and access to it as well as provide better information to citizens.

EU moves to upgrade Europe's drinking water — 06 February 2018, 18:16 CET

The EU Commission proposed Thursday a revision of the EU Drinking Water Directive, in an effort to improve the quality and people's access to drinking water, as well as reduce consumer use of plastic.

MEPs urge fight against spread of fake honey — 24 January 2018, 23:16 CET

The EU must step up support for beekeepers, ban harmful pesticides, invest more in developing safe bee drugs and clamp down on imports of fake honey, MEPs on the EU Parliament's agriculture said Tuesday.

EU Novel Food regulation applies from 1 January — 04 January 2018, 00:06 CET

Significant improvements and changes to the novel food authorisation procedure are promised from the European Union's new Regulation on Novel Food which is applicable from 1 January 2018.

Novel food — 04 January 2018, 00:01 CET

Novel Food is defined as food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before 15 May 1997, when the first Regulation on novel food came into force.

EU adopts track and trace system for tobacco — 18 December 2017, 23:22 CET

The European Union took an important step forward in combating the illicit trade in tobacco products Friday with an EU-wide track and trace system to ensure tobacco products in the EU are easily traceable.

Tobacco track and trace system — 18 December 2017, 22:59 CET

A new EU-wide track and trace system adopted on 15 December 2017 is designed to ensure that tobacco products in the EU are easily traceable with a unique identifier for each product.

Commission renews approval of glyphosate herbicide for 5 years — 12 December 2017, 23:18 CET

The European Commission renewed for 5 years EU approval of glyphosate Tuesday, following scientific assessment which it says concludes there is no link between glyphosate and cancer in humans.

Approval of pesticides in the EU — 12 December 2017, 23:15 CET

What are pesticides? Who decides on their authorisation? Who is responsible for their use? How can pesticides be used safely? An active substance is only approved by the European Commission after a rigorous and lengthy science-based assessment to ensure its use is safe. The assessment of these dossiers is then conducted jointly by: the national authorities in EU Member States; the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The Future of Food and Farming - Commission Communication — 29 November 2017, 17:53 CET

The European Commission released on 29 November 2017 a Communication on 'The Future of Food and Farming', outlining the ways to ensure that the oldest EU common policy remains future-proof.

EU farm reform offers stronger role for Member States — 29 November 2017, 17:56 CET

EU Member States will have a stronger role in deciding how to allocate EU public subsidies to farmers under proposals for more sustainable farming put forward by the EU Commission Wednesday.

MEPs move to ban use of phosphates in kebabs — 29 November 2017, 14:16 CET

The European Parliament could veto a Commission proposal to allow phosphates in kebab meat, following serious concerns over a potential link between phosphates used as food additives and heart disease.

MEPs propose ban on glyphosate herbicide by 2020 — 19 October 2017, 14:06 CET

MEPs on the European Parliament's Environment Committee backed Wednesday a full ban on glyphosate-based herbicides by December 2020 and immediate restrictions on the use of the substance.

New guidelines to cut EU food waste — 16 October 2017, 18:08 CET

Guidelines to lifting barriers to food donation in the EU, just published by the Commission, clarify relevant EU legislation and are seen as a key deliverable of the EU's 'circular economy'.

MEPs tackle unfair food practices — 12 October 2017, 21:10 CET

Food companies are alleged to be selling lower quality food products in some EU countries. The European Parliament's internal market committee looked into the issue Wednesday.

Pesticides must be checked for harmful chemicals: MEPs — 12 October 2017, 20:45 CET

MEPs at a public hearing Wednesday discussed the EU risk assessment of the herbicide glyphosate, demanding that pesticides be checked for endocrine disrupting chemicals.