EFLA Conference 2026, “From Labels to Algorithms: Food Information in the Digital Era”, will take place on 1 December 2026 in Vevey, Switzerland (kindly hosted by Nestlé).
Registrations open soon.
Ticket Prices
- EFLA Members: €620 (excl. VAT)
- Non-Members: €765 (excl. VAT)
Concept
Food Information to Consumers (FIC) Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, now approaching fifteen years since its adoption, was designed primarily around on-pack disclosures and a relatively linear consumer purchasing journey. Since then, the regulatory landscape, consumer expectations and the ways in which food information is communicated have evolved significantly. Against this background, the conference will examine both the current challenges in the interpretation and application of the FIC Regulation and the future direction of EU food information law.
The first session will focus on some of the most significant legal and regulatory developments that have recently influenced the interpretation of food information rules. It will explore the relationship between the FIC Regulation and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD); the use of product names and the protection of legally reserved designations through recent case law and legislative interventions; front-of-pack nutrition labelling and nutrition claims, including in relation to Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP); precautionary allergen labelling and the different approaches emerging at international, EU and national level; and Nutri-Score together with other forms of interpretative nutritional labelling.
The second session will turn to the future of food information. Food purchasing increasingly takes place within digital ecosystems—online marketplaces, search engines, social media platforms and AI-powered assistants—where consumers are influenced not only by labels but also by algorithms, personalised recommendations and digital content. These developments raise fundamental questions about the continued adequacy of the existing regulatory framework and the evolution of consumer protection in the digital age. The conference will examine consumers' perception of risk, uncertainty and trust in the context of emerging technologies; the future of food labelling, including QR codes, digital labelling and dynamic information; the implications of the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act and the evolving audiovisual commercial communications framework for food marketing; the application of the FIC Regulation to distance selling and online platforms, including product information, search algorithms and the allocation of responsibilities across the supply chain; and the growing role of industry self-regulation, with particular attention to the governance of influencer marketing.
Programme
Paola Corte, EFLA President (Greetings)
Leanne Geale, Nestlé (Opening address)
Session I: "15 years of FIC: rethinking consumer information beyond the pack"
Manon Ombredane, Squire Patton Boggs (Recent CJEU case law on FIC: the evolving canon of the “average consumer")
Paola Corte, Studio Legale Corte (Nomen Omen: Recent Case Law on Legal Names and Policy Developments)
Francesco Planchenstainer, Nestlé (Who is being protected? Courts’ interpretation of front-of-pack nutrition labelling requirements)
Roundtable: beyond harmonisation: voluntary nutrition schemes, member state activism and private rating systems
- Belgian digital advertising position giving an overview of options by member states, speaker TBC
- French experience- decision of the Conseil d'État on Nutriscore and mandatory schemes, Emily Amat, DWF
- Yuka and private ranking systems, speaker TBC
Roundtable: FIC & precautionary allergen labelling (PAL): where harmonization is thin - Member States approach to PAL
- Karin Verzijden, Axon Lawyers (Netherlands)
- Vincente Rodriguez, Legal Agrifood Abogados (Spain)
- Nicola Smith, Squire Patton Boggs (UK)
Session II: "the digital dimensions of food information: platforms, search engines, influences and beyond"
Michael Siegrist, Zurich Institute of Technology (Risk, uncertainty and trust: how consumers respond to new technologies)
Iain Walker, GS1 (The Beyond the label: trust, standards, and AI in consumer food information)
Ayse Prager, Nestlé (Digital Fairness Act & Audiovisual Compact: what it could mean for food marketing)
Yau Wong, Amazon (Applying FIC to distance selling and online platforms: product information, search algorithms and shared responsabilty)
Peter Loosen, German Food Federation (Industry self-regulation: managing influencer use in practice)
Francesco Planchenstainer, EFLA Vice-President (Concluding Remarks)
Save the date on your calendar! Registration details will be announced soon. We look forward to welcoming you on 1 December 2026.
Accommodation
If you are looking for accommodation, EFLA has secured preferential rates at the following hotels. Simply use the links below to access the discounted prices: