Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, UK
To go to the main Foodlaw-Reading index page, click here.
Last updated: 28 August, 2012

EU Food Law News - 2011

This page lists (in reverse chronological order) the EU news items available for 2011. For other years, see: 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 . To find news on a selected topic, a Search Page is available which can be restricted to search the news pages only. The listed material is based on information available from a number of different sources - IT IS UNLIKELY TO BE COMPREHENSIVE. The date used below relates to the date of the meeting, letter, press release etc - not the date the item was added to the list.

• 22 December 2011 GMOs - Commission authorises three GM maizes and one GM cotton for food and feed uses
• 19 December 2011 PARNUTS - Food Intended for Infants and Young Children and Food For Special Medical Purposes: EU Parliament Committee to discuss draft report
• 15-16 December 2011 CODEX - EU Council informed about developments within the Codex Alimnetarius
• 14 December 2011 FRUIT JUICE - No more mix-ups over mixed fruit juices: Parliament agrees 1st Reading on new controls
• 14 December 2011 EFSA - Strengthened procedures to avoid potential conflicts of interest and “Revolving Door” case
• 14 December 2011 EFSA - European Ombudsman Report: EFSA should strengthen procedures to avoid potential conflicts of interest in 'revolving door' cases
• 13 December 2011 ADDITIVES /FLAVOURINGS - Food Additives, Flavourings and enzymes: FSA Update Bulletin December 2011
• 12 December 2011 GMOs - Member States fail to endorse proposals to authorise two GM soybean products
• 12 December 2011 GMOs - EU extends phasing out period for traces of obsolete GM oilseed rape
• 8 December 2011 LABELLING - New food labelling regulation published
• 7 December 2011 MEAT - Romania authorized for trade in pig meat to other Member States
• 5 December 2011 CLAIMS - Statement by Commissioner John Dalli: Another step forward: more accuracy on health claims on food
• 5 December 2011 CLAIMS - Questions and Answers on the list of permitted Health Claims
• 5 December 2011 CONTACT MATERIALS - Plastic in contact with foodstuffs: Council allows adoption of updated Regulation
• 1-2 December 2011 PARNUTS - Council progress report on updating certain PARNUTS controls
• 28 November 2011 ADDITIVES – Council allows adoption of new regulation amending food enzyme controls
• 28 November 2011 CLAIMS - Commission launches final discussions with Member States on list of health claims
• 24 November 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA publishes original industry studies on aspartame
• 24 November 2011 CONTAMINANTS - EU measures on imports from Japan to be prolonged until end of March 2012
• 17 November 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA consults on new food additives guidance
• 15 November 2011 GMOs - Member States fail to endorse proposals to authorise two GM soybean products for food and feed uses
• 15 November 2011 GMOs - EU reinforces controls on Chinese rice products
• 14 November 2011 ADDITIVES - New legislation to make the use of additives in the EU safer and more transparent
• 14 November 2011 ADDITIVES - Questions and Answers on Food Additives
• 8 November 2011 LOT MARKING – Council agrees adoption of new codified version of old Directive
• 8 November 2011 CONTAMINANTS – Council agrees adoption of new contaminant controls
• 8 November 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Residues compliance continues to rise, pesticide report shows
• 1 November 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Import ban on produce from Egypt extended
• 28 October 2011 GMOs - EU's legislation on the right track, evaluation reports conclude
• 28 October 2011 GMOs - Questions and answers on the evaluation of the European Union's GMO legislation
• 25 October 2011 RAPID ALERT SYSTEM - Report documents growing importance of the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
• 25 October 2011 RAPID ALERT SYSTEM - Questions and Answers on the role and achievements of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
• 21 October 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Member States endorse EU measures to better prevent dioxin contamination in food and feed
• 18 October 2011 FOOD SAFETY - EU prolongs temporary ban on imports of Egyptian seeds until the end of March 2012
• 12 October 2011 EFSA - Ensuring the delivery of solid scientific advice through safeguarding the independence of EFSA
• 11 October 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Update on E.coli O104 outbreaks
• 10 October 2011 QUALITY STANDARDS - Some products are more equal than others? MEPs debate food quality variations
• 3 October 2011 ADDITIVES / HEALTH CLAIMS - Council agrees adoption of new regulations
• 3 October 2011 MEAT HYGIENE - EFSA completes first Opinion in meat inspection work
• 29 September 2011 CLAIMS - Draft list of permitted Article 13.1 Health Claims, September 2011
• 29 September 2011 LABELLING - Council enables consumers to make healthier dietary choices
• 20 September 2011 ANIMAL FEED - Agency advises ministers on EU feed ban proposals
• 16 September 2011 CONTAMINANTS - New EU Legislation as Regards Nitrate in Green Leafy Vegetables
• 15 September 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission’s Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 12 September 2011
• 15 September 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Food imports from Egypt: ban on leguminous vegetables soon to be lifted
• 13 September 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Ombudsman: Commission clarifies permitted food contamination levels after Fukushima nuclear
• 8 September 2011 GMOs - The Court rules on the conditions under which the French authorities could introduce a provisional prohibition on the cultivation of MON 810 maize
• 6 September 2011 GMOs - Honey and food supplements containing pollen derived from a GMO are foodstuffs produced from GMOs which cannot be marketed without prior authorisation (ECJ Judgement)
• 30 August 2011 MEAT - Electronic identification of bovines to further strengthen food safety and animal health in the EU
• 23 August 2011 ADDITIVES - EU restrictions on use of aluminium-containing food additives: request for information on associated costs
• 23 August 2011 MEAT PRODUCTS/ADDITIVES - Update on the monitoring of the use of nitrites in meat products
• 12 August 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Edible Insect consumption: scope of the Novel Foods Regulation (EC) Regulation 258/97
• 10 August 2011 GM FOOD - EFSA launches public consultation on draft guidance for the risk assessment of food and feed derived from GM animals and related animal health and welfare aspects
• 8 August 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Commission welcomes Russia's decision to cancel temporary import requirements for fresh EU vegetables
• 5 August 2011 PARNUTS - UK Consultation to seek views on European Commission's proposal for a regulation on food intended for infants and young children and on food for special medical purposes
• 28 July 2011 CLAIMS - EFSA finalises the assessment of general function health claims
• 28 July 2011 CLAIMS - Commission to present list of health claims by the end of the year after EFSA finalises its assessments
• 19 July 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Contaminants in foodstuffs: maximum levels and official controls: Discussions at the Agriculture Council meeting
• 19 July 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Follow-up to the E. coli outbreak: Discussions at the Agriculture Council meeting
• 19 July 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission's Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 18 July 2011
• 14 July 2011 DESIGNATIONS - A trade mark containing the geographical indication 'Cognac' cannot be registered to designate a spirit drink not covered by that indication
• 14 July 2011 LABELLING - European Commission's Proposal for a Regulation on The Provision of Food Information for Consumers - Update on the second reading of the dossier in the European Parliament
• 14 July 2011 SPEECH - The EU and the challenges of the next decade in the food safety area (by Commissioner Dalli)
• 14 July 2011 QUALITY PROMOTION - Green Paper on promoting the tastes of Europe
• 12 July 2011 GEOGRAPHIC LABELLING - Georgia: Protection of geographical indications - Council action
• 7 July 2011 ADMINISTRATION - EFSA launches public consultation on its Draft Policy on Independence and Scientific Decision-Making Processes
• 6 July 2011 LABELLING - Food labels: clearer information for consumers: Parliament adopts proposal at second reading
• 6 July 2011 LABELLING - Questions and Answers on the Food Information regulation
• 6 July 2011 LABELLING - Statement by Commissioner John Dalli : The adoption of Food Information regulation is good news for consumers
• 6 July 2011 BSE - Mad cow disease: EU must maintain strict controls, says Parliament
• 5 July 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Discussion on reviewing the EU level for ochratoxin A (OTA) in wheat gluten
• 5 July 2011 FOOD SAFETY - EFSA publishes report from its Task Force on the E. coli O104:H4 outbreaks in Germany and France in 2011 and makes further recommendations to protect consumers
• 5 July 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E. coli outbreak: EU withdraws Egyptian seeds from the market and temporarily bans their import
• 5 July 2011 LABELLING - Speech by Commission Dalli on Food Information to Consumers at the European Parliament Plenary
• 5 July 2011 ADDITIVES - Member States' experts endorse Commission proposal to authorise steviol glycoside as a food additive
• 4 July 2011 CONTAMINANTS - EU amends regulation governing imports of Japanese food and feed
• 1 July 2011 OFFICIAL CONTROLS - Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 (as amended) Implementing Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 as Regards the Increased Level of Official Controls on Imports of Certain Feed and Food of Non-Animal Origin (Non-POAO)
• 1 July 2011 FORTIFICATION/PARNUTS - Addition of substances to the annexes to Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements, Regulation (EC) 1925/2006 on fortified foods and Regulation (EC) 953/2009 on foods for particular nutritional uses
• 30 June 2011 CLAIMS - Commission welcomes publication of EFSA's fifth set of opinions on Article 13 claims
• 29 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - EFSA and ECDC highlight importance of cooking sprouts thoroughly to reduce risk of further E. coli O104 outbreaks
• 28 June 2011 SAFETY - Follow-up to the E. coli outbreak - Discussions at the Agriculture Council of Ministers
• 26 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - EFSA sets up European task force to help investigate French E.coli outbreak
• 23 June 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission’s Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 20 June 2011
• 22 June 2011 LABELLING - Consumers enabled to make healthier dietary choices: Results of discussions between Institutions
• 21 June 2011 QUALITY LABELLING -Food quality labels: simpler rules for farmers, more clarity for customers
• 20 June 2011 PARNUTS: Specialized food products : Commission's initiative to provide better information to consumers
• 20 June 2011 PARNUTS - Questions and Answers on Commission proposal replacing current framework legislation on dietetic foods
• 16 June 2011 VETERINARY CHECKS - Council conclusions - system of veterinary checks for meat imports
• 13 June 2011 CLAIMS - European Commission Regulation (EU) 440/2011 on the authorisation and refusal of authorisation of certain health claims made on foods and referring to children’s development and health
• 8 June 2011 CLAIMS - Further Assessment of certain Article 13 (1) health claims
• 7 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E. coli outbreak: lessons to be learnt for the future: Discussion in European Parliament
• 7 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E. coli outbreak: Discussion at Extraordinary Agriculture Council Meeting
• 6 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E-coli disease: Discussions at the Health Council Meeting
• 4 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E Coli outbreak in Germany: Commission looks forward to concrete and fruitful discussion in upcoming Health Council
• 2 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - European Commission considers the Russian ban on imports of EU vegetables as disproportionate and requests its immediate withdrawal
• 1 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Statement by Commissioner Dalli on the E. coli outbreak
• 1 June 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Efforts intensify to identify source of E. coli outbreak in Germany as final tests clear Spanish cucumbers
• 31 May 2011 CONTAMINANTS/PACKAGING - Bisphenol A: EU ban on baby bottles to enter into force tomorrow
• 31 May 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E. coli outbreak in Germany on decline as test results on suspect cucumbers come out
• 31 May 2011 FOOD SAFETY - Statement on the E. Coli outbreak issued by the Member States at the meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH)
• 30 May 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Ombudsman asks Commission to clarify permitted food contamination levels after Fukushima nuclear accident
• 27 May 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Food Contact Materials, Contaminants and Irradiation – Update Bulletin May 2011
• 27 May 2011 FOOD SAFETY - E.Coli outbreak in Germany: Commission notifies Member States on one of the sources responsible for the contamination
• 26 May 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA to conduct a full risk assessment of aspartame
• 26 May 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission’s Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 23 May 2011
• 24 May 2011 CONTAMINATION - Food Safety: EU amends regulation governing imports of Japanese food and feed
• 17 May 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Statement of the Council's Legal Service
• 13 May 2011 DESIGNATIONS - Quality products: Four Chinese agricultural products receive protected status in the EU
• 2 May 2011 ADMINISTRATION - EFSA rolls out re-organisation programme to meet demands, optimise resources
• 26 April 2011 SUPPLEMENTS/FORTIFICATION - Update from Working Group meeting 15 April 2011 on food supplements and additions to foods
• 19 April 2011 LABELLING - Food labelling: Parliament's Environment Committee sets out clearer rules
• 19 April 2011 OFFICIAL CONTROL - Amendment to Regulation (EC) No. 669/2009 for July 2011
• 19 April 2011 CLAIMS - Update after the European Commission’s ad hoc Working Group meeting on further assessment of certain Article 13 health claims (e.g. probiotics), 14 April 2011
• 12 April 2011 GMOs: EP0 Environment Committee strengthens legal grounds for cultivation bans
• 8 April 2011 LABELLING / GM FOOD - Food rules: what's cooking in the Parliament?
• 8 April 2011 CLAIMS - Commission welcomes publication of EFSA's fourth set of opinions on Article 13 claims
• 8 April 2011 CLAIMS - EFSA completes evaluation of further 442 ‘general function’ health claims
• 6 April 2011 CLAIMS - DHA in baby food: European Parliament approves health claim
• 6 April 2011 IRRADIATION - EFSA assesses the safety of food irradiation
• 4 April 2011 CLAIMS - Further assessment of certain Article 13(1) health claims: ad hoc meeting between European Commission and EU member states, 14 April 2011
• 31 March 2011 CLAIMS - Health claims on foods: Council discussion of Commission's proposals
• 29 March 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Novel Foods talks collapse on Council refusal to label clone-derived products (Parliament' statement)
• 29 March 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Statement by Commissioner Dalli on the lack of agreement in the conciliation procedure on the Novel Food Regulation (Commission's Statement)
• 29 March 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Conciliation on novel foods failed (Council's Statement)
• 25 March 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission’s Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 21 March 2011
• 25 March 2011 CONTAMINANTS - EFSA is closely monitoring the recent incident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in the northeast of the country on 11 March 2011
• 24 March 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Food safety: the EU reinforces controls on imports from Japan
• 18 March 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA encourages objective scientific debate on aspartame
• 17 March 2011 NOVEL FOODS - Cloning for food: Council must accommodate public concerns
• 17 March 2011 GM FOOD - Authorisation of three genetically modified varieties
• 16 March 2011 CLAIMS - DHA in baby food: Environment Committee opposes health claim
• 16 March 2011 HYGIENE - Court of Auditors Special Report: The Commission's management of the system of veterinary checks for meat imports following the 2004 hygiene legislation reforms
• 10 March 2011 OFFICIAL CONTROLS - Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 (as amended) implementing Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 as regards the increased level of Official Controls on imports of certain feed and food of non-animal origin (Non-POAO)
• 28 February 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA reviews two publications on the safety of artificial sweeteners
• 25 February 2011 CONTACT MATERIALS - Bisphenol A: EU ban on use in baby bottles enters into force next week
• 23 February 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Dioxin incident in Germany: Member States adopt a statement
• 24 February 2011 CLAIMS - Update from the European Commission’s Working Group meeting on nutrition and health claims, 22 February 2011
• 23 February 2011 GMOs: Harmonisation of controls for GM material in feed endorsed by Member States
• 21 February 2011 LABELLING - Council finalizes its first reading on new food labelling rules
• 18 February 2011 CONTAMINANTS - February 2011 update on the draft EU legislation as regards nitrate in green leafy vegetables
• 15 February 2011 QUALITY LABELLING - 1000th quality food name registered
• 14 February 2011 ADMINISTRATION - Council adopts new comitology rules
• 10 February 2011 GMOs - Commission to transmit to Council proposals to authorise three GM maize and one GM cotton products for food and feed
• 9 February 2011 GMOs - In Advocate General Bot’s opinion, honey containing pollen from MON 810 maize requires authorisation to be placed on the market as a food produced from a GMO
• 28 January 2011 LABELLING - Revision of the nutrition labelling directive - technical issues: guidance documents
• 26 January 2011 ADDITIVES - EFSA revises assessment of consumer exposure to steviol glycosides
• 25 January 2011 CLAIMS - Update from Working Group meeting 24 January 2011 on nutrition and health claims
• 24 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Dioxin situation in Germany: Report to Council
• 17 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - "Dioxin incident: what new measures could we envisage?" Speech by John DALLI Member of the European Commission, responsible for Health and Consumer Policy
• 14 January 2011 NANOTECHNOLOGY - EFSA launches public consultation on guidance for the risk assessment of nanomaterials in food and feed
• 13 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Update on dioxin contamination in Germany
• 12 January 2011 GMOs - “GMOs: guaranteeing safety is a priority”: Speech by John DALLI Member of the European Commission, responsible for Health and Consumer Policy
• 7 January 2011 LABELLING - European Commission’s Proposal for a Food Information Regulation (FiR) - Update on Discussions in Council Working Group meetings under the Belgian Presidency
• 7 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Statement by John Dalli, Commissioner in charge of Health and Consumer Policy, on the dioxin incident in Germany
• 7 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Update on dioxin contamination of pasteurised liquid eggs
• 6 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Questions and Answers – Dioxin incident in Germany
• 6 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Update on dioxin contamination of pig and poultry feed in Germany
• 5 January 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Dioxin contamination in pig and poultry feed in Germany