Short answer
A food label or advertisement is misleading under EU law when its words, images, layout or omissions create a materially false impression for the average consumer. Accuracy in one part of the package does not necessarily cure a deceptive overall presentation. The test covers the food's nature, composition, properties, effects, quantity, durability, production method, origin and provenance.
Some claims face stricter, self-contained rules. A nutrition claim such as “high fibre” must be one EU law permits and must meet its conditions. A health claim must be authorised, used within its conditions and scientifically substantiated; wording that merely implies a relationship with health may qualify. Origin claims must be truthful and may require disclosure of a different primary-ingredient origin. “Organic” and the EU organic logo are reserved for compliant products.
Environmental and sustainability claims on food are also judged under food-information law and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Until 27 September 2026, their truth, evidence, clarity, context and effect on a purchasing decision are central. From that date, national rules implementing Directive (EU) 2024/825 must also prohibit specified practices, including unsupported generic environmental claims, uncertified private sustainability labels and product-level climate-neutrality claims based on emissions offsetting.
Start with the whole consumer impression
Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on food information to consumers applies to mandatory and voluntary information, and Article 7 reaches labelling, advertising and presentation. It supplies the first question for most food claims:
“Food information shall not be misleading, particularly” as to the food's characteristics, including its “nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, country of origin or place of provenance, method of manufacture or production”. —
Article 7 also prohibits attributing effects or properties that the food does not possess, suggesting that it has special characteristics shared by all similar foods, and attributing disease-preventing, treating or curing properties, subject to the specific EU rules for certain products. Information must be accurate, clear and easy to understand.
The assessment is not a word-by-word technical exercise. It asks what an average consumer who is reasonably well informed, observant and circumspect is likely to understand from the package in context.
In Teekanne, C-195/14, pictures of raspberries and vanilla flowers and prominent wording suggested that a tea contained those ingredients, although the accurate ingredients list showed only flavourings. The Court interpreted the predecessor rule now reflected in Article 7:
“the fact that the list of ingredients is displayed on the packaging ... does not in itself exclude the possibility that the labelling ... may be such as to mislead the purchaser”. —
Food-information and general consumer enforcement may overlap. In Lidl Italia, C-301/25, the Court held that the UCPD can support national penalties where the same misleading conduct also falls under Article 7 of Regulation 1169/2011. Conversely, conduct complying with every Article 7 requirement may not, in principle, be prohibited under the UCPD.
Nutrition and health claims have additional gates
Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 governs nutrition and health claims in commercial communications, including labels and advertising. It distinguishes a nutrition claim about energy, nutrients or substances from a health claim that states, suggests or implies a relationship between a food or constituent and health.
Nutrition claims generally may be used only if listed in the Regulation's Annex and if their conditions are met. A technically accurate nutrient figure does not authorise an unlisted promotional claim.
All nutrition and health claims must comply with the general rule:
“the use of nutrition and health claims shall not ... be false, ambiguous or misleading”. —
Articles 5 and 6 require generally accepted scientific evidence, a relevant amount and bioavailable form, and an effect the average consumer can understand. The operator must justify the claim. Health claims require authorisation and inclusion in the applicable EU list; their use must preserve the authorised meaning and accompanying conditions.
The category is broad. In Deutsches Weintor, C-544/10, “easily digestible” accompanied by a reference to reduced acidity was a health claim because it linked wine to bodily effects. Health claims are prohibited for beverages above 1.2% alcohol by volume.
Origin can mislead by statement or omission
Origin is mandatory where its omission could mislead consumers about the food's true country of origin or provenance, especially when the accompanying information suggests somewhere else. Product-specific EU rules also require origin for categories such as certain meats, honey, olive oil, fruit and vegetables.
Where a food's origin is voluntarily given but its primary ingredient comes from elsewhere, Article 26(3) and Implementing Regulation 2018/775 ordinarily require the primary ingredient's origin or a clear statement that it differs. The rules cover words, flags, maps and other geographical references, subject to their detailed scope and exceptions.
In Organisation juive européenne, C-363/18, the Court held that origin information could require both the territory and the relevant place of provenance where omission would suggest a different producer location.
In Confédération paysanne, C-399/22, the Court applied product-specific fruit-and-vegetable rules: melons and tomatoes harvested in Western Sahara had to identify Western Sahara alone as origin, because Morocco would be deceptive. The applicable sector rule, not a generic origin formula, controlled.
Member States have limited room to add mandatory origin particulars. Under Article 39, they need an authorised justification and, for origin measures, a proven link between particular qualities and origin plus evidence of significant consumer value. Groupe Lactalis, C-485/18, held that consumer perception alone cannot establish the objective link.
Sustainability, climate and organic wording
A voluntary sustainability statement on a food label must satisfy Article 36 of Regulation 1169/2011: it must not mislead, be ambiguous or confuse consumers and, where appropriate, must rest on relevant scientific data. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive separately prohibits false or deceptive information and material omissions that cause, or are likely to cause, an average consumer to make a transactional decision otherwise not made.
Claims such as “sustainable,” “carbon neutral,” “regenerative” or “responsibly sourced” should identify their boundary, lifecycle stages, baseline, method, material trade-offs, certification, date and use of offsets. Evidence behind a link cannot rescue a false or deceptive prominent message.
“Organic” is not merely a general green claim. Regulation (EU) 2018/848 reserves organic-production terms and the EU organic logo for products complying with its production, control, certification, composition and labelling rules. A private sustainability logo does not confer organic status.
Herbaria Kräuterparadies, C-240/23, confirms that an imported product accepted under a third-country equivalence regime cannot use the EU organic logo—or ordinarily EU organic terms—unless it meets the Regulation's full requirements. A qualifying third-country organic logo may still be used.
The rules change on 27 September 2026
Directive (EU) 2024/825 required Member States to adopt implementing measures by 27 March 2026 and to apply them from 27 September 2026. National implementation must therefore be checked; the future consolidated EU text should not be treated as already applicable before that date.
From 27 September 2026, the amended unfair-practices blacklist covers, among other things:
- displaying a sustainability label not based on a qualifying certification scheme or established by public authorities;
- making a generic environmental claim without demonstrating recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to it;
- presenting an environmental benefit of one aspect as applying to the whole product or business;
- claiming, based on greenhouse-gas offsetting, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse-gas impact; and
- making future environmental-performance claims without clear, objective, public and verifiable commitments in a detailed, realistic plan with measurable, time-bound targets and independent expert verification.
These are specific additions, not permission for other environmental claims. The general misleading-action and omission tests continue to operate.
A practical assessment
Before publishing a food claim, identify:
- the precise message created by the words, pictures, brand, layout and omissions;
- whether it is ordinary food information, a nutrition claim, a health claim, an origin indication, an organic term or an environmental claim;
- the legal permission, authorisation or mandatory disclosure for that category;
- evidence matching the exact product, formulation, market, period and breadth of the message;
- whether qualifications are prominent, intelligible and consistent with the main impression; and
- the Member State, national enforcement rules and date of the communication.
Conclusion
The overall presentation must convey a truthful, clear and substantiated impression. Correct fine print does not necessarily cure a misleading headline or picture, while nutrition, health, origin and organic claims have specific regulatory gates.
Sustainability marketing already falls within food-information and consumer-protection law. On 27 September 2026, additional bright-line prohibitions make several generic, offset-based and uncertified claims unlawful without the usual case-by-case route. Classification, current law and evidence must therefore be settled before deciding whether a claim may be used.
Sources
This article provides general legal information, not advice for a specific matter. Laws, facts and procedural deadlines may change the result. Follow the linked primary sources and obtain local advice before acting.