Food Legislation and Fraud Fact Sheets 2022 by product group

Introduction Food Legislation and Fraud

According to the European Commission, the following fact documents summarize EU food law and fraud cases. These product groups are taken into account: animal feed, animal products, composite food, dairy, eggs, fish and seafood, food for specific groups, food safety authority, foodstuff plant-based, general, hospitality and craft production, organic, supplements, and herbs.

Find here the factsheets.

Food Legislation

People must have access to safe and nutritious food. A number of food-related occurrences in the late 1990s highlighted the need for comprehensive guidelines and regulations for food and feed law at the Union level. In response, the European Commission created a comprehensive strategy for food safety “from farm to fork,” which was principally outlined in its White Paper on Food Safety. The entire food chain is covered, including the production of feed, primary production, food processing, storage, delivery, and retail sales.

Food Fraud

In order to achieve an unfair advantage for themselves, usually financially, a food business operator may intentionally mislead customers about the quality and/or composition of the food they are purchasing. This is known as food fraud.

Types of food fraud: adulteration, tampering and mislabelling, counterfeit, grey market, substitution.

Sources

• European Commission
• FAO