Public Notification of Food Safety Risks, June 2013

The EU's "General Food Law" (Regulation 178/2002) introduced a number of definitions of food and feed risk in order to bring greater cohesion to food regulation and risk management across the EU Member States. The General Food Law is the cornerstone of food and feed safety law in the EU. It requires competent authorities to make public announcements about food products where there is a serious risk to human health. The recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Berger v Bayern case has now clarified the extent to which competent authorities are also entitled (but not required) to make public announcements about food products which are not prejudicial to health but which are unfit for human consumption. If you are a food business operator, these discretionary announcements that disclose brand information and manufacturer details can have disastrous consequences.