The concept of the consumer has changed over the last decades within the European Union, owing to European case law and legislation. Which concept of the consumer is relevant plays an important role when the law is applied in practice. The provisions on general requirements made of food information and on the obligations of food business operators set out in European Regulation No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (hereinafter: FIC), which will be applicable as of 13 December 2014, represent a shift away from the concept of the empowered consumer towards the concept of the casual consumer. This calls for an analysis how the concept of the consumer has developed and a forecast of where things will go from here.