To all appearances, Europe is at present undergoing a crisis of consumer confidence with respect to the food industry. Recent food scares, the genetically-modified food controversy, a growing public awareness of the environmental footprint of intensive farming methods, and a perceived threat to the deeply-held European cultural values surrounding diet and cuisine all have combined to expose the vulnerability of consumers in the very ordinary activity of purchasing food. Although the creation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in February 2002 can be viewed as an EU response to this crisis, it in fact represents an inevitable milestone in a body of food-specific European legislation and case law that has been growing for many years.
The EFSA does, however, clearly establish food law as an autonomous branch of EU law. This is the first book to survey and analyse this body of law in depth, drawing together the relevant laws and cases and taking stock of the trends and likely future developments in this dynamic and emotive area of law and policy.
elucidates the scope of European food law by investigating several avenues and facets of the subject, including the following:Because food is such a central and essential element in society, food law has far-reaching economic, social, and environmental consequences. And because Europe's new food safety regime is intended, by an extraordinary unanimity of Member States and major political groups, to be the most up-to-date and effective in the world, a broad range of legal practitioners and scholars, social scientists, and policymakers will greatly appreciate this thoroughgoing and insightful analysis.
| Table of treaties | ||
| Table of European community secondary legislation | ||
| Ch. 1 | Introduction | 1 |
| Ch. 2 | Free movement of goods | 4 |
| Ch. 3 | New approach - green paper and white paper | 15 |
| Ch. 4 | Emergence of food law as an autonomous branch of law | 22 |
| Ch. 5 | Food labelling | 32 |
| Ch. 6 | Additives | 42 |
| Ch. 7 | Flavourings | 59 |
| Ch. 8 | Claims | 70 |
| Ch. 9 | PARNUTS - foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses | 80 |
| Ch. 10 | Food supplements and fortification | 93 |
| Ch. 11 | Vertical directives | 99 |
| Ch. 12 | Novel foods and genetically modified organisms | 110 |
| Ch. 13 | Agricultural products | 121 |
| Ch. 14 | Food contact materials | 135 |
| Ch. 15 | Contaminants and residues | 144 |
| Ch. 16 | Hygiene | 155 |
| Ch. 17 | Zoonoses/microbiological criteria | 169 |
| Ch. 18 | Food controls and official inspection of foodstuffs | 179 |
| Ch. 19 | The international context | 188 |
| Ch. 20 | Conclusion | 193 |
| Annex I | Action plan on food safety | 195 |
| Annex II | List of permitted food colours (directive 94/36) | 205 |
| Annex III | Fortification | 207 |
| Annex IV | Food supplements | 211 |
Overview
To all appearances, Europe is at present undergoing a crisis of consumer confidence with respect to the food industry. Recent food scares, the genetically-modified food controversy, a growing public awareness of the environmental footprint of intensive farming methods, and a perceived threat to the deeply-held European cultural values surrounding diet and cuisine all have combined to expose the vulnerability of consumers in the very ordinary activity of purchasing food. Although the creation of the European Food ...