Food and feed 

CEN's activities in relation to food safety are in line with the European Union's objective to achieve the highest possible level of health protection for the consumers of Europe's food.

EU food safety legislation establishes a cascade of methods that shall be used for official control purposes. Preference is given to methods that comply with internationally recognized rules or protocols, like those described in CEN publications. Therefore a majority of European Standards and other deliverables developed by CEN in the area of Food and Feed are supported by standardization requests, also known as Mandates, from the European Commission requesting development of validated methods of analysis of food and feed.

More information about European Standards and other deliverables developed by CEN in the area of Food and Feed as well as the European Union’s legislative context can be found in sections below.

News and events

No current news. 

Technical bodies and activities

CEN Technical Committees, which work is related to food and feed's fields:
  • CEN/TC 194 - Utensils in contact with food
  • CEN/TC 275 - Food analysis - Horizontal methods
  • CEN/TC 302 - Milk and milk products - Methods of sampling and analysis
  • CEN/TC 307 - Oilseeds, vegetable and animal fats and oils and their by-products - Methods of sampling and analysis
  • CEN/TC 327 - Animal feeding stuffs - Methods of sampling and analysis
  • CEN/TC 338 - Cereal and cereal products
  • CEN/TC 415 - Traceable and sustainable cocoa
  • CEN/TC 453 - Nutritional Supplements compatible with doping prevention

Workshop(s)

Sector Forum

Coordination Group on Food Authenticity was created in 2017 in order to verify (i) which fully validated methods for food authenticity are available which are ready for standardization (ii) in which TC these methods should be standardized, and (iii) which non-validated methods of the new generation using data bases for evaluation of results are available and (iv) whether it is possible to standardize these methods and in which TC this should be done.

European legislation and mandates

EU Directives

In 2002 the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EC)178/2002 laying down the General Principles and requirements of Food Law (pdf format). The aim of the General Food Law Regulation is to provide a framework to ensure a coherent approach in the development of food legislation.
 
Mandates
 
Part of CEN activities in support of food safety are related Mandates received from the European Commission:
  • M/381 Standardisation Mandate in the field of methods of analysis of foodstuffs concerning food hygiene
  • M/422 Standardisation Mandate in the field of method of analysis for heavy metals ans iodine in food
  • M/463 Standardisation Mandate in the field of method of analysis for food contaminants
  • M/520  Standardisation Mandate in the field of methods for the analysis of mycotoxins in food
  • M/521 Mandate for methods of analysis in the field of animal nutrition – Part 1
  • M/522 Mandate for methods of analysis in the field of animal nutrition – Part 2
  • M/523 Mandate for methods of analysis in the field of animal nutrition – Part 3
Harmonized European Standards
European Regulations in the area of Food and Feed make reference to European Standards developed by CEN, these standards are however not 'harmonized' in the legal sense of 'New Approach' principle.

Useful links and documents