The European Union’s General Court has rejected an appeal to register “Halloumi” and its Greek alphabet equivalent as Community Trade Marks, deeming the terms descriptive of the cheese product. Republic of Cyprus v. Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Mkt., Nos. T-292/14 and T-293/14 (Gen. Ct., order entered October 7, 2015). The application would have granted trademark protection for “Halloumi” within the European Union. Halloumi is set to receive Protected Designation of Origin status as a cheese produced on the island of Cyprus after the European Commission published the application to register the name in July 2015. As a trademark, however, the term is merely descriptive of the cheese product, the court found. “[T]he applicant acknowledges that the marks applied for have always been perceived by Cypriot consumers and by consumers across the European Union as referring to a particular type of cheese exported from Cyprus, made in a certain…
Tag Archives EU
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a scientific opinion assessing any potential risks associated with the use of insect protein in food and animal feed. Concluding that chemical and biological risks depend on production method, the type of substrate used, and insect species, the expert panel specifically notes that “the occurrence of prions—abnormal proteins that can cause diseases such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans—is expected to be equal or lower if the substrate does not include protein derived from humans (manure) or ruminants.” The report also calls for more data about the possible accumulation of cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals in farm-raised insects. “EFSA concludes that when non-processed insects are fed with currently permitted feed materials, the potential occurrence of microbiological hazards is expected to be similar to that associated with other nonprocessed sources of protein,” states a…
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has reportedly objected to McDonald’s Corp.’s use of “artisan” in describing its new product, the McMór hamburger. The Ireland-exclusive burger is marketed as an “artisan” product that incorporates several ingredients from Irish cuisine, including bacon, cabbage, baby kale, Ballymaloe relish, Charleville cheese and a “potato-flaked” bun. FSAI established guidelines in May 2015 about the use of “artisan” that stipulate the word should describe products made only (i)“in limited quantities by skilled craftspeople,” (ii) without a “fully mechanized” process that “follows a traditional method,” (iii) “in a micro-enterprise at a single location,” and (iv) with “characteristic ingredients” that are “grown or produced locally, where seasonally available and practical.” McDonald’s issued a statement indicating that it would remove “artisan” from its marketing. Additional details about FSAI’s food marketing guidance appear in Issue 566 of this Update. See The Irish Times, September 1, 2015. Issue…
The Environment and Agriculture committees of the European Parliament have approved a draft bill that would ban the cloning of all farm animals, their descendants and products derived from them. The legislation would prohibit both the cloning within the EU and the importation of cloned animals from other countries. “We are well aware that cloning is allowed in certain third countries that EU trades with, but we cannot allow these products to be placed on the EU market,” Giulia Moi, an Italian Member of the European Parliament, said in a press release. “We also want to ensure that cloning of animals would not become a common practice within the EU.” The proposed law would require the import certificates for animals, animal germinal products, food and feed of animal origin to indicate that the products are not derived from cloned animals. The European Parliament will vote on the bill at a…
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has found that a correct and complete list of ingredients can be part of an overall misleading food label in a case challenging a German tea company’s “Felix Raspberry and Vanilla Adventure” (“Felix Himbeer-Vanille Abenteuer”) product for having no flavorings derived from raspberries or vanilla. Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände v. Teekanne GmbH & Co. KG, No. C-195/14 (E.C.J., order entered June 4, 2015). Teekanne advertises its tea product as fruit tea with natural flavorings and a raspberry-vanilla taste, and the label features depictions of raspberries and vanilla flowers and a seal indicating the product contains only natural ingredients. The ingredient list includes “natural flavouring with a taste of vanilla” and “natural flavouring with a taste of raspberry,” according to the court. “That list thus expresses, in a manner free from doubt, the fact that the flavourings used are not obtained from vanilla and raspberries but…
The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has alleged that companies used “numerous tactics from the corporate lobbyist playbook” to persuade several European Commission departments to obstruct the Directorate-General of the Environment (DG Environment) in its attempts to regulate endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). In particular, the CEO report claims that groups representing the chemical and plastics sectors not only promoted their own studies “as the only ‘sound science,’” but used the threat of economic damage as well as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations “as a leverage to prevent any new ‘trade barrier.’” “By early Spring 2013, since DG Environment did not bend under the pressure, the corporate lobby focused on demanding an impact assessment as a delaying tactic,” opines the report. “In a culmination of fierce lobbying pressure, DG Environment’s proposal for scientific criteria to identify EDCs was finally rejected by the other DGs in the Commission. Moreover, in…
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced a June 17, 2015, workshop in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss supplementary guidance for the allergenicity assessment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to the agency, the supplementary guidance aims to reflect technological and scientific advances as well as assessment methodologies developed since EFSA finalized the current guidance in 2011. The Working Group of EFSA’s GMO Panel requests feedback from member states, international partners, academia, non-governmental organizations and industry on the following topics: (i) non-IgEmediated immune adverse reactions to foods; (ii) in vitro digestibility tests for allergenicity assessment; and (iii) endogenous allergenicity. The June workshop will feature the work of 90 experts with a focus on molecular allergology, protein chemistry, plant science, clinical allergy, gastroenterology, food chemistry, and risk assessment. See EFSA News Release, April 14, 2015. Issue 562
The European Commission (EC) is convening a meeting to “inform Member States, Members of the European Parliament, third country representatives and stakeholders about the ongoing impact assessment on criteria to identify endocrine disruptors and to provide a platform for further exchanges of views” on June 1, 2015, at the Centre Albert Burschette in Brussels, Belgium. Sessions at the day-long event will include discussions of (i) the impact assessment vis à vis the plant protection products regulation and biocide products regulation; (ii) establishing criteria for identifying endocrine disruptors and assessing that criteria in a regulatory context; and (iii) potential impacts on health, the environment, trade, agriculture, consumers, and the food and pesticide industries. The registration deadline is May 19. See EFSA News Release, April 23, 2015. Issue 562
Three studies published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism have sought to quantify “the burden of disease and associated costs attributable to EDC [endocrine-disrupting chemical] exposures in the European Union.” Supported by the Endocrine Society, the research responds, in part, to the EU Commission’s request for an impact assessment that addresses the economic implications of restricting, phasing out or authorizing certain EDCs. To this end, the studies discuss the costs associated with EDCs and their alleged link to obesity and diabetes, male reproductive disorders, and neurobehavioral deficits and diseases. Using “the midpoint of each range for probability of causation” by EDCs, a fourth paper estimates the overall median cost of these diseases and disorders at $209 billion annually in Europe. “The primary finding of this manuscript is that there is a substantial probability of very high disease costs across the life span associated with EDC exposure in the EU,” note the authors.…
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Fraunhofer Nanotechnology and Food Chain Management alliances have organized a two-day public event on March 5-6, 2015, in Berlin to discuss a range of risk-related issues related to the use of nanomaterials. Symposium topics will include (i) European Food Safety Agency guidance on nanomaterials, (ii) the NanoDefine project, (iii) migration potential of nanomaterials in food contact plastics, (iv) inhalation toxicology, and (v) public acceptance of nanotechnology. Charged with “providing information on possible, identified and assessed risks which foods, substances and products may entail for consumers,” BfR reports to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Issue 553
