LVwG Lower Austria from 13.11.2023, LVwG-S-1656/001-2023 - Misleading "organic" claim for cosmetic products. A cosmetic product was placed on the market in an eye-catching manner on the front of the cardboard packaging in the same field of vision as the product name with the indication "organic" with 2 leaves and a circular text in small letters "with valuable active ingredients from nature". The front of the product [...]
CJEU from 25.05.2023, RS C-141/22 – Buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content, a novel food?
The CJEU recently received a request for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 3(2)(a)(iv) and (vii) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. The referring court wanted to know whether a foodstuff such as buckwheat germ flour with a high spermidine content constitutes a "novel food" within the meaning of [...]
On 27.202022 the long-awaited decision of the ECJ on the questions referred by the OLG Düsseldorf appeared (ECJ C-418/21, 27.10.2022). In summary, the OLG Düsseldorf sought to understand what is to be understood by other medically related nutritional needs under Art 2(2)(g) of Regulation No 609/2013, specifically whether this justifies a broad understanding, as this [...]
OLG Stuttgart, judgment from 04.11.2021, 2 U 49/21 - Inadmissible health claims on the reduction of skin wrinkles. Statements on the reduction of skin wrinkles in the advertising of a foodstuff are to be classified as specific health claims within the meaning of Art. 10 of Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (so-called Health Claims Regulation) if the optical effect of a [...]
OLG Hamm, judgment of 21.4.2022, 4 U 39/22 - Misleading health-related advertising for a medical product. The so-called "strict principle" is applied to protect consumers not only in health-related advertising for pharmaceutical products, but also when medical products, which only have a physical effect and are not absorbed by the body (here: a wound dressing for absorbing and binding wound exudate), [...]
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the LG Graz, Case C-141/22 - Questions of interpretation of the Novel Food Regulation / Subject Spermidine. The case concerns a food supplement containing spermidine, in which during the production of the product buckwheat seeds germinate into sprouts in a nutrient solution containing synthetic spermidine as hydroponics. After harvesting, the sprout is washed with water, dried and ground into sprout meal. Through [...]
Regulation (EU) 2022/860 - Regulation on limit quantities of monacolins from red mold rice published. On 01.06.2022, Regulation (EU) 2022/860 amending Annex III to Regulation (EC) 1925/2006 was supplemented, and maximum quantities for monacolins from red mold rice were introduced. The regulation was long-awaited, the question of transition periods and the validity only for the production or also for [...]
A draft amendment to the LMSVG is currently being discussed in parliament. Although the self-proclaimed purpose of the amendment is to bring it into line with EU regulations, there are also some changes that go beyond this. The expansion of the list of measures in Section 39 LMSVG is particularly noteworthy. If the authority identifies a violation of food law regulations, the measures specified in [...]