#62025CJ0301EU Court: Misleading food packaging can be fined under both food information and consumer protection rules
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
Clarifies that misleading food packaging can be punished under general EU consumer protection rules even when the same conduct also falls under EU food information rules. The case concerned pasta packaging that highlighted Italian origin while the wheat used came partly from outside Italy, which regulators said could mislead shoppers about the product’s raw materials. Food companies should not assume that compliance issues are limited to food-labeling penalties. If packaging, marketing, or presentation could influence a consumer’s buying decision, national consumer authorities may also use unfair commercial practice rules, which can carry heavier fines. The Court added that if food information fully complies with the EU food information regulation, it should not normally be banned under consumer protection rules.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.
Key Changes
- Confirms that EU food information rules and unfair commercial practice rules can apply together to misleading food packaging.
- Allows national consumer authorities to fine misleading food marketing under consumer protection laws, even when food-labeling rules also cover the conduct.
- Signals that compliant food information should not normally be challenged again under general consumer protection rules.
Obligations
What this law requires
EU law provision discussed: under Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, food information, including packaging and presentation, is prohibited from misleading consumers as to characteristics such as composition, country of origin, or place of provenance, and must be accurate, clear, and easy to understand.
EU law provision discussed: under Article 6(1) of Directive 2005/29/EC, a business-to-consumer commercial practice is misleading if its overall presentation deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer about main product characteristics, including composition or geographical/commercial origin, and is likely to affect a transactional decision.
Court conclusion: Directive 2005/29/EC and Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 operate as complementary consumer-protection systems for food information; the fact that food packaging conduct falls within Article 7 of Regulation 1169/2011 does not by itself exclude enforcement under unfair commercial practices rules.
Court conclusion on conflict rule: under Article 3(4) of Directive 2005/29/EC, other EU rules regulating specific aspects of unfair commercial practices prevail only where there is a conflict; the judgment treats EU food information rules and general unfair commercial practice rules as not conflicting merely because both cover misleading food presentation.
National measure under challenge: the Italian AGCM imposed a EUR 1 million administrative fine under the Italian Consumer Code on Lidl Italia for pasta packaging that highlighted Italian origin and milling in Italy while the durum wheat used was of EU and non-EU origin; this is identified as the contested enforcement measure, not as a standalone compliance rule.