EU Food Policy

The main purpose of the EU food policy is to guarantee a high and uniform level of food safety in Europe. Therefore, rules for all foods sold in the EU must be similar regardless of whether they come from Poland, Denmark, Cyprus or any country outside the EU.

EU consumers should be confident that the foods on the market are healthy, safe, of high quality and produced with respect for animal welfare. Improvements of food safety levels in the EU through the harmonisation of standards will be of high importance during the Danish Presidency.

Foods for particular nutritional uses

The Danish Presidency will work towards a compromise with the European Parliament on the proposal on foods for particular nutritional uses, which was tabled in June 2011. The proposal seeks to include trade rules for food for young children (0-3 years) and persons with special medical needs.

Food quality

The Presidency aims at closing the “Quality Package” which contains proposals on the regulation of quality systems and commercial standards for agricultural products.

Antimicrobial resistance

The Presidency will focus on the use of antimicrobials in both human and veterinary medicine and increasing antimicrobial resistance. The aim is to promote rational use of antibiotics and improve data collection and the monitoring of antibiotic use and resistance in both humans and animals.

Animal welfare during transport

Animal welfare will be a priority for the Danish Presidency as the Council is expected to consider the Commission's report on the regulation on the protection of animals during transport and related activities.

The main instruments of the EU Food Policy
The common food policy aims to secure consumers a high quality and safety in foods, regardless of origin. The policy aims to secure food safety and quality, all the way from production to retail outlets - from farm to fork.

The main instruments of the EU’s food policy are described below:

  • Control of food companies
    EU countries have adopted common rules for food companies’ hygiene and self-monitoring and common rules for authorities’ monitoring of the food industry. An EU inspectorate also monitors whether the Member States implement food legisla-tion correctly. The EU inspectorate also verifies that companies and governments ex-porting to the EU from countries outside the EU, comply with EU food legislation.
  • Risk assessments and common values
    Risk assessments of preservatives, flavors, pesticides and a number of other substances that may occur in foods, are performed at the EU level. This is to ensure that these sub-stances are not found in food in hazardous quantities. Based on risk assessments com-mon levels of potentially harmful substances are establish so that only foods that do not pose a health risk are approved for marketing in the EU.
  • Food labeling
    The EU has common rules for the labeling of ingredients in both food and feed.
  • The EU Rapid Alert System
    The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed is EU’s early warning system and is used when contamination of food and feed, which may pose a risk to consumers, is identified. The Rapid Alert System allows for quick recall of dangerous products.
  • Animal diseases and welfare
    Common rules on animal health help to promote animal health and reduce the risk of spreading diseases. In order to identify the source of an infection, traceability is an im-portant element in these rules.

Here you can find more information on EU’s food policy

The website of the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries

The website of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration

The website of the European Food Safety Authority

The Commission Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection

The European Parliament news on health and environment

The European Parliament news on food legislation

The EU Food Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (PDF)