Functional Food

Consumer demand for foods with specific health benefits has increased the economic importance of developing, producing and marketing functional food. However, within in the European Union, this area of food law is harmonized to a minor extent only. Therefore, the economic operators face the difficulty of having to comply with national laws that might differ substantially from one Member State to another. This synopsis is aimed at facilitating the first approach to the legal framework of functional food within the European Union and selected other countries.