Karola Krell Zbinden, Maren Langhorst

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 16 (2021), Issue 2, Page 139 - 140

Karola Krell Zbinden

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 9 (2014), Issue 5, Page 330 - 331

I. The Swiss Parliament Adopted the Revision of the Federal Act on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (Foodstuffs Act, FSA) The message of the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs Office (FSVO) feels like a relief

Karola Krell Zbinden

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 7 (2012), Issue 3, Page 126 - 133

Switzerland is not a Member State of the European Union and European Law is not applicable in Switzerland. However, several legal provisions in Swiss law contain references to European Regulations and Directives. Other Swiss provisions are transcripts of European regulations, the so called “autonomous adaptation” of European Law into Swiss Law. In this way Switzerland has been able to adopt most of the content of European Food Law, but it was also able to choose from the European provisions or to interpret and correct them. In 2010 Switzerland started to revise completely its Federal Act of 9 October 1992 on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (Foodstuffs Act, FSA). One aim of this revision is the adoption of the principles of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 which have not been implemented in Swiss Food Law yet. The message and the draft of the revised act were published in May 2011. This revision can be seen as an acknowledgment of the achievements of the European General Food Law.

Karola Krell Zbinden

European Food and Feed Law Review, Volume 5 (2010), Issue 6, Page 341 - 346

Food businesses may advertise the qualities and effects of their products, if they are true and non-deceiving. These general legal principles for food advertising apply just as well in Switzerland as in the Member States of the European Union. What is and what is not good food advertising practice cannot be answered comprehensively. The national interpretations differ with regard to the questions: What is the acceptable truth and what is the general knowledge of the consumer in order to determine the deceiving character of an advertisement? Several decisions of the Swiss Courts show that food advertising has become a legally restricted and rather complicated undertaking. Not only marketing experts would like to challenge the judicial logic, if they understand that foods may “activate the natural resistibility”, but not “the immune system”, and this notwithstanding the fact that Switzerland has established a list of possible “health claims”. The following article describes the legal provisions and some decisions of Swiss Courts on food advertising and thus tries to reveal potential loopholes for creative marketing experts.