- 19/08/2017
- Posted by: Marta
- Categories: Questions and Answers, News
Name of the food, the lawyer Dario Dongo replies
Dear Dario good morning,
I have to prepare the graphics for the boxes of new cookies. They are balls called 'truffles', apparently they might look like chocolates but they are not. Instead, they are crumbled biscuits mixed with chocolate and covered with chocolate and chopped hazelnuts or cocoa. How to call them, what name to use?
Best wishes
Maria
The lawyer Dario Dongo, Ph.D. in food law, answers
Dear Maria good morning,
the word 'truffle' it can be used to express the appearance of a product and be used as its trade name. That is to say, the wording that identifies and distinguishes that product from others, even from the same company, in advertising as in orders.
It is a similar case to that of Ferrero's Kinder 'eggs', which we have already addressed. (1). Also in this case, the operator gives the product a fancy trade name that reflects its appearance and thus makes it immediately recognizable in promotional and sales contexts.
In both cases however, the trade name cannot be used as the name of the food. Indeed, the latter has the precise function of informing the consumer about the identity of the product on sale. And it certainly cannot be absolved through the use of names (truffles, eggs) which are instead typical of foods other than those in question. Nor by reference to shapes (eg egg, bar, cube) in themselves unsuitable to express the nature of the product.
The name of the food is the first mandatory information to be reported on the label. In the same field of vision of other essential news for the consumer, the quantity of the product. The name must be affixed following a precise order, dictated by EU regulation 1169/11 in article 17:
1) the legal name it must be used in all cases in which the European legislation (2) - or, alternatively, the national one (3) - regulates the use of a specific name. For the precise purpose of identifying the qualitative characteristics of certain foods, through the discipline of composition (4) and / or processing method,
2) the usual denomination it can be used, where the food lacks a legal definition above. Provided that the average consumer on the market where the product is distributed (regional, inter-regional, national) can easily identify the food by this name. (5) And that there is an effective correspondence between the nature of the food and the appellation used, (6)
3) the descriptive name it is essential whenever the food lacks a specific discipline (see point 1) and does not respond to any usual name (see point 2). In the case in question, for example, 'truffles' must be described as 'biscuits with hazelnuts and cocoa grains'. With the attention to report the quantity of the highlighted ingredients, after the mention of each of them. In the same denomination, or in the ingredients list. (7)
Cordially
Dario
Note
(1) See http://www.ilfattoalimentare.it/kinder-gransorpresa-denominazione.html
(2) Eg. Extra-virgin olive oil, 'Superior category olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means'. The qualitative characteristics of which are defined in reg. EEC 2568/1991 and subsequent amendments, in Annex 1
(3) Raw ham sold as such in Italy, for example, is subject to the requirements set out in the interministerial decree 21.9.05, 'concerning the regulation of the production and sale of certain delicatessen products'(as amended by decree 26.5.16)
(4) See the examples of chinotto and cedrata, on http://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/chinotto-cedrata-bibite-più-contraffatte-16-prodotti-a-confronto
(5) NB: the names of typical foods of the regional territories - even if recognized as PDO or PGI at European level - can be enigmatic in other areas of the Peninsula. In such cases, even if the usual name is used, a specific description of the product must follow
(6) If a usual name is given, but the food does not correspond to it, a commercial fraud can be configured (art.515 of the Italian Criminal Code), if the relevant conditions are met.
(7) According to the QUID rule (Quantity of Ingredients Declaration) referred to in reg. EU 1169/11, article 22
