Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2015:361
Date: 2015-06-04
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Ninth Chamber
Subject matter: Consumer protection;Approximation of laws
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber), 4 June 2015 Approximation of laws — Labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs — Directive 2000/13 — Prohibition of labelling that could mislead purchasers — Labelling giving the impression, by means of the appearance, description or pictorial representation of a particular ingredient that that ingredient is present in a foodstuff — Absence of that ingredient apparent solely from the list of ingredients on the foodstuff’s packaging — Not permissible — Assessment by the national court (European Parliament and Council Directive 2000/13, Art. 2(1)(a)(i) and 3(1)(2)) Articles 2(1)(a)(i) and 3(1)(2) of Directive 2000/13, on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, as amended by Regulation No 596/2009, must be interpreted as precluding the labelling of a foodstuff and methods used for the labelling from giving the impression, by means of the appearance, description or pictorial representation of a particular ingredient, that that ingredient is present, even though it is not in fact present and this is apparent solely from the list of ingredients on the foodstuff’s packaging. The list of ingredients, even though correct and comprehensive, may in some situations not be capable of correcting sufficiently the consumer’s erroneous or misleading impression concerning the characteristics of a foodstuff that stems from the other items comprising its labelling. It is for the national court to carry out an overall examination of the various items comprising the labelling of the foodstuff concerned in order to determine whether an average consumer who is reasonably well informed, and reasonably observant and circumspect, may be misled. In the context of that examination, the national court must in particular take into account the words and depictions used as well as the location, size, colour, font, language, syntax and punctuation of the various elements on the foodstuff’s packaging. (see paras 40, 42-44, operative part)