Food Law

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Recent Articles

  •  
    13/03/2024
    England and Wales

    Not Frying So High: EU General Court Rejects “MYBACON” Trade Mark Appeal

    Introduction Food company Myforest Foods Co. sought to register the trade mark “MYBACON” for its plant-based food product. Both the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the EUIPO’s Board of Appeal rejected its application on the grounds that  the mark is deceptive (Myforest Foods Co. v EUIPO, Case T‑107/23). Determined to press on with its appeal, Myforest brought the case before the EU General Court (GC) but it has been unsuccessful. The EU General Court agreed with the EUIPO that the mark “MYBACON” was likely to mislead the public...
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  •  
    11/03/2024
    United Kingdom

    Wasting more than food? Oven ready contributions to emissions reductions targets

    For many years at EU and UK level the contribution of waste, including food waste, to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been well understood both in terms of emissions as part of the waste process but also in terms of the emissions associated with the production and transportation of the product. In the EU the implementation of the Waste Framework Directive’s hierarchy of preventing waste and encouraging reuse then recycling prior to recovery and disposal methods has been a longstanding requirement and the same obligations remain the case in the UK today. As waste separation and presentation...
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  •  
    19/12/2023
    EU

    Grate news for Grana Padano: logo granted cumulative protection in EU

    Collective marks and protected designations of origin (PDOs) have different functions and confer different levels of protection. While the function of a collective mark is to indicate membership of an association, a PDO identifies and protects the goods of a particular region. An association of protection of a PDO may apply to register a collective mark incorporating that PDO, to obtain cumulative protection, but this can present some obstacles.In a recent decision (case R-1073/2022-5), the Fifth Board of Appeal of the EUIPO (“Board”) clarified the relationship between collective marks...
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  •  
    16/08/2023
    United Kingdom

    Food waste reporting to remain voluntary in spite of favourable consultation response

    The government has announced that the reporting of food waste will not be made mandatory for large businesses in England despite this proposal receiving overwhelming support from respondents to its consultation. As such, food waste reporting will remain on a voluntary basis until mid-2025, when a review will be undertaken.   BackgroundThe 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy for England outlined the government’s approach to tackling food waste in England, with a pledge to consult on the annual reporting of food surplus and waste by food business operators (“FBOs”) and on...
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  •  
    19/07/2023
    England and Wales

    Green light given to uncapped variable monetary penalties (VMPs) and their extension to environmental permitting regime

    SummaryOn 12 July 2023, DEFRA published its response to its recent consultation containing proposals applicable to England to (a) amend or remove the cap on VMPs – one civil penalty among a wide range of civil sanctions and traditional criminal sanctions which may be imposed for a breach of specific environmental offences – and (b) enable the Environment Agency (“EA”) to impose VMPs for alleged breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (the “Environmental Permitting Regulations”)Our commentary on the April 2023 consultation can...
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  •  
    07/03/2023
    United Kingdom

    The new era of data reporting legal requirements to reduce food waste for a circular economy

    The emerging duties of data collection and reporting reflect a trend that is expected to be extended to food waste in the drive for sustainability and a circular economy. Although there are numerous individual projects addressing food waste there is currently little composite information on waste disposal within the food waste industry. As initially flagged by the Dimbleby National Food Strategy (NFS), the Westminster government is now addressing measures to gather data to better understand food waste systems and practices. Government is calling on industry to assist in gathering information...
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