Food & Drink Update: March 2025
“The legal landscape within the food and drink sector continues to evolve. This newsletter contains information on new food waste regulations, the potential impact of the EU deforestation regulation on food businesses, an update on advertising restrictions for less healthy foods, as well as an examination of animal welfare codes and the incoming failure to prevent fraud offence (which will catch food fraud). Feel free to contact one of our experts in the Food and Drink team about any of the subjects mentioned in our update or generally about other matters; our contact details are below.”
Hitting the headlines…
Food & Drink stories in the news …
FSA seeking views on changes to Code of Practice
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking views on its proposed changes to the Food Law Code of Practice and the Practice Guidance in England.
Read more from The Food Standards Agency here.
DEFRA announces the launch of PackUK
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced the launch of PackUK, the scheme administrator for the UK’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. PackUK will be responsible for setting and collecting EPR fees from obligated producers and making packaging waste disposal payments to local authorities in return for improved collection and recycling services.
DEFRA has published guidance on packaging data reporting periods and submission deadlines
In more news on EPR, DEFRA has published guidance on packaging data reporting periods and submission deadlines for large and small organisations under the EPR for packaging scheme. The guidance outlines that large producers are required to collect and submit data bi-annually, while small producers must do so annually. The next submission deadline for both is 1 April 2025, covering data collected from 1 July to 31 December 2024 for large producers, and from 1 January to 31 December 2024 for small producers.
FSA publishes technical guidance on precision breeding
The FSA has published technical guidance to support applicants throughout the application processes outlined in Regulations 20 and 22 of The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025. It explains the level of due diligence the FSA would expect food and feed business operators to exercise to ensure that the food and feed that they are producing is as safe as is reasonably possible, as well as specific measures that should be taken into account when determining which regulatory route applies to their precision bred organism.
New recycling regulations
On 31 March 2025, new recycling regulations will come into effect, requiring businesses across England to ensure that all food waste is separated out from other wastes and presented separately for collection by an approved contractor.
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